The World's End

When you're the third film in an unofficial trilogy that includes Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz then there is a lot of pressure on you to maintain that quality and unfortunately this film doesn't do that. There are good aspects to this comedy but not enough of it really comes together well enough to make it stand up to the previous two films. The plot here sees Gary King trying to reclaim happiness by convincing a group of his friends to revisit the "good old days" by going on a pub crawl they attempted when their lives lay ahead of them and they felt full of potential. However, when they do return to their home they feel like they have changed too much and should never have come back – but they are only half right, because they should not have come back, although it isn't them that has changed.

I like the ideas behind this film. On one hand we have a sci-fi movie which owes its debts to 1950's America while on the other we have a very British plot involving a pub crawl and someone who can't let go of the time in his life where he felt important and potent – a time which has left him behind and now appears a bit pathetic to still be trying to be the person he was rather than just moving on. This is a nice idea and it is one that occasionally goes somewhere but far too frequently it doesn't and it isn't consistently applied. It also doesn't help that Gary himself is a wholly unlikeable character; writing this type of person to work as someone we support is hard and the script never achieves it, it never consistently shows the cracks to the extent that you feel for him. Many of us will have a small part of Gary in us but the film never reaches it. It also doesn't help that the film seems to take his side at the end as well.

This gives us the sci-fi side and it does work better as an all out comedy sci-fi; the fight scenes are silly but yet well done and the action is quite engaging. That said it never feels grounded in the dreary British reality in the way that Hot Fuzz and Shaun managed to do so very well, so while it is decent, it never feels as clever or as special as the previous two films. It does have laughs and the film does have good elements so I don't think it is bad, just that it isn't really anywhere near as successful as it needed to be. The cast are mostly good but the material doesn't make the most of them. Pegg is the lead, has the toughest character and really can't make it work – not all his fault, but still. Nick Frost is better because his character is simpler and he is fun in the action sequences. Marsan, Considine and Freeman are better actors than the material they get given here – likewise the many familiar faces in support, from Brosnan down to Oram, although they do OK.

The World's End is not a bad film and if you liked the previous films then you'll be more likely to find things to enjoy here – but chances are you'll still feel a little disappointed as the aspects that made the previous films work so well don't really come together with this one.

"We're going to see this through to the bitter end. Or... lager end." Gary King (Simon Pegg)

Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright are at it again satirizing pop culture, this time with an entertaining send up of zombie movies (even their own spoof, Shaun of the Dead) and boy-man buddy vacations like Hangover. Five middle-aged blokes, led by the perennially immature Gary King (still the "King," he'd like to think), return after 20 years to their hometown to finish the crawl to the 12th and final pub, The World's End.

The obvious allegory is fun to follow as robotic replicas of actual humans try to take over the world. Their mission is to make earth and humans perfect, a goal any lame brain knows is impossible. Aliens have been trying to conquer earth since movies began with little success given our need for independence and ingenuity finding the alien weaknesses.

The real strength of The World's End is in the dialogue with its rapid repartee. For example:

Gary King: And here we go! Just like the five musketeers. Steven Prince: Three musketeers wasn't it? Gary King: Well nobody knows how many there were really do they? Oliver: You do know that The Three Musketeers was a fiction right, written by Alexander Dumas. Gary King: A lot of people are saying that about the bible these days. Steven Prince: What, that it was written by Alexander Dumas. Gary King: Don't be daft, Steve; it was written by Jesus.

Covering authorship and ignorance issues while being amusingly clueless is the endearment of Pegg and Wright's democratic humor—after all, none of the players is exempt from stupidity.

Perhaps more importantly, however, is the thematic point about never being able to go home again. The protagonists grew up in the same town, and returning to finish their crawl reveals that no one remembers them! Of course, since the townies are almost all robots, they couldn't remember them anyway. Yet the point is figuratively well taken: Nobody cares about you after you're gone.

The movie-making team of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright has been one of the biggest success stories of British cinema of the past decade. With "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) and "Hot Fuzz" (2007), the trio demonstrated originality, ingenuity, and most significantly, capable of drawing a large, appreciative audience. Now they're back with the long-awaited third movie of what's become unofficially known as the "Cornetto trilogy." Like it's predecessors, director Edgar Wright loves paying homage to American cinema; "Shaun" pays its respects to George Romero, "Fuzz" nods its head to over the top action, buddy flicks, and "World's End" takes a page from our classic American sci-fi films.

In "The World's End," 20 years after attempting an epic pub-crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hell-bent on trying the drinking marathon once again. Once convinced to stage an encore by Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year- old man trapped in the mindset of his mid 20's, drags his reluctant friends back to their hometown, and once again attempt to reach the fabled pub - The World's End.

"The World's End" plays on the notion that any time you return to your old stomping grounds, changes are inevitable. Upon returning to their small town roots—a place so boring it boasts about having the first roundabout in all of England—the crew notices that things are a little strange. As it turns out, the town residents are now blue- blooded alien robots. Pretty soon, the group of friends find they are not only fighting to recapture who they once were, but to preserve who they are.

"The World's End" follows similar thematic and structural paths as the other films in the trilogy. While it is definitely intended as a satirical spoof on one level, it also works just as well as a fully functional sci-fi story. You have elements of body snatching, invasions, and more than a few overt nods to John Carpenter's classic "They Live" (1998), in the way the aliens integrate into their society and take over. It's satire in such a loving fashion that it comes across as infectiously charming.

If there is anything to criticize here, maybe it's that the genre is a bit more skewered and less defined than in its predecessors. However, "The World's End" does cap an unofficial trilogy, and the grievance is overly critical given the nature of the movies. Long-time fans of the trilogy will appreciate the reversal of roles, casting Pegg as the selfish screw-up, and Frost as the one who has it together. This allows Pegg to fully unleash his gift for gab, and for Frost to show off his considerable skill for physical comedy.

With great gags, better fights, and fan pleasing cameos, "The World's End" is exactly the sort of British-accented, genre-blending pleasure we've come to expect from its creative trio, and we can only anticipate to what the future holds.

Saw it at a midnight premier last night (free Cornettos were given out!) and myself and the rest of the audience were laughing throughout, having a thoroughly enjoyable time. I thought it was great, definitely on a par with Hot Fuzz, though - to me - not quite as good as Shaun of the Dead, which is fair enough as it is one of my all-time favourites. It is definitely a worthy close to the "trilogy" though, and it stands up well against the other two.

Amongst the highlights were seeing another former Bond actor, even if it was in a small role, along with various other regulars from the past films and Spaced - Tyres, Julia Deaking (Marsha), Bill Nighy's voice, Mark Heap, et al.

With a plot as ludicrous as this one the film relies on the strength of it's leads to succeed, and they pull it off admirably. I liked that there was a role reversal of Pegg and Frost's usual character dynamic, with Frost especially noteworthy in his performance. The lads have clearly come a long way over the years. Pegg is clearly having a whale of a time, and carries us the audience along with him. Having such a talented group of back-up actors in Marsan, Considine and Freeman helps massively too.

I feel they missed a trick by not using the line "You've got blue on you", though.

I must start by admitting to have reviewed this previously and removed it, last time round I must have been in a bad mood, I criticised it for going off the boil, however in recent times I've gotten so into it, it's meant to be bonkers, outrageous and utterly over the top and it sure is. I think there's something incredibly British about the humour, the world could come to an end, but there's still time for nostalgia, and more importantly there's still time for a pint. It's still perhaps my least favourite of The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, but the other two are that good, and hard acts to follow. It is clever, it's witty, and which of us doesn't know a Gary? If only it didn't have to be a trilogy, would have loved more from this successful group, it's an underrated gem.