Review: The World's End (2013)

Review by Disgruntled Monkey

Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman
Writers: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright

Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead have to be one of the best comedies in recent times. They are not only loving parodies of specific genre's, they also work as great examples of the genre's. The World's End hopes to do to science fiction disaster movies, what those two movies did to buddy action movies and zombie movies. However it fails to hit the target, still it takes a few excellent shots.

Unlike the two previous movies there doesn't seem to be a keen understanding or love of the genre trying to be lampooned. It might seem unfair to judge this movie against those two, but then Wright and co did it to themselves by binding them loosely together under the banner of The Cornetto Trilogy.

Simon Pegg is also a major problem in this movie. Well not him but his character. Gary King is one of the more unlikeable characters to grace the screen and while there is a definite point to his character, he makes for some hard watching. In the first 20 minutes people might just turn away from the film because of him. I can't even say that his character arc has a worth while resolution. Still Pegg plays the character well, maybe too well.

The other characters fair a lot better and I really liked Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman and Eddie Marsan. Nick Frost is also good, but plays the straight man and his story is actually a little sad but with a much nicer resolution. Thankfully everyone really does a good job and seems to be having an excellent time.

For me the highlight of the film comes from the action scenes. Edgar Wright just has a great eye for putting an action scene together and everytime the boys got into a fight with the aliens it was exciting. I can't remember the amount of times I exclaimed "wow," as the action took place. It honestly puts full on action movies to shame. I can at least take away from this movie that Ant Man is in good hands cause while Wright can bring the funny, he can also make you marvel at a person beating the crap out of another person.

Actually let me go on about the action a little more. Everything is so crisply choreographed and shot that I believed that Nick Frost could be the next big action star. Vin Diesel? Jason Statham? The Rock? Screw those loser, give me Nick Frost in the next Fast and Furious movie. Just the visual dynamic is worth the time invested in the movie.

Okay i'll move on now.

It's actually a shame that the end of the movie kind of limps across the finish line in a special effects big boom, rather than giving us a fulfilling end battle. In fact the end just seems so rushed and I feel that it gives credence to the fact that the boys weren't as intimate with the genre tropes. Still it's far from a train wreck, just more disappointing.

Overall the movie is good, it's just not great like the other two movies in the Cornetto Trilogy. Simon Pegg is a good actor but his character is hard to love. There also doesn't seem to be the same love thrown into the movie like the other two. However this movie has some extraordinary fight scenes that put serious action movies to shame. They are worth the price of admission.

Category	Rating	Reason
Entertainment	1 ale out of 1	Fight scenes need to be seen.
Script	0.5 ale's out of 1	It's funny but there is something missing. Also the Gary King character is a misfire.
Acting	1 ale out of 1	Everyone does a great job..
Directing	1 ale out of 1	Wright knows how to make a movie visually arresting.
Technical	1 ale out of 1	The movie is very polished from small details to big set pieces.
Overall	4.5 ales out of 5	It's a good movie, worthy of your time but has one gigantic flaw that might turn you away.