Sometimes all you want to do is laugh. This was the case earlier this Saturday morning when I got together with a group of guys, including my soon-to-be son-in-law, Grant, to have the male version of a bridal shower. While the women got together to do…(it’s a mystery)…the guys got together to watch a flick and then eat buffalo wings.
I’ve been a Simon Pegg fan ever since the release of Shaun of the Dead. His films are consistently fun in the slightly off, goofy, geeky way that I like. His newest film, an alien invasion comedy, The World’s End makes a wonderful trilogy along with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. All three films take a snarky-yet-cool look at the various kinds of films that they spoof.
I went into the film expecting to be entertained by groan-worthy humor and inside-joke references to the other films and my expectations were met. These movies may be deemed guilty pleasures, but there is sincerely no guilt, just pleasure.
Simon Pegg’s character, Gary King, is the quintessential kid who never grew up. In a moment of insanity he decides to get his group of high school friends together to return to their home town to complete the Golden Mile, a twelve-pub crawl that they were unsuccessful in completing the first time they tried. Using his boyish charm and a fair amount of deception, King convinces his four successful friends to return to Newton Harbor for the Friday night pub crawl. Everything starts out simple enough, even if the town does seem a bit different than the last time they were there. A few beers in the gents discover that all is not what it seems…it appears robots have replaced the townspeople for some sinister reason that these five men must discover, while continuing to tour the local pubs.
What follows is a great deal of running, fighting and drinking coupled with the king of visual and aural gags viewers will be accustomed to if they’ve seen a Simon Pegg/Nick Frost film before. The action was entertaining, the humor was there as expected, and the film manages to sneak in just a tiny amount of pathos.
I prepared for the film by sitting down with Mary last night for a re-watch of Hot Fuzz. It remains my favorite Pegg/Frost film and I watched it in large part to see all the character actors so that I could pick them out in this film. One of the many fun things about their films is the use of the same set of supporting actors. That coupled with repeat gags (like jumping over fences) make these fun films to watch in combination. We had watched Shaun of the Dead not terribly long ago.
As a fan of British television, particularly British mysteries, I love the way in which each of these films is set in some charming English village and how they proceed to take a satirical look at how quaint these villages are by making them the home of one heinous disaster after another. Zombies, a murderous cabal, and now alien robots. Too entertaining.
If you’ve enjoyed the work of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the past it is safe to say this will be another film that puts a smile on your face. They won’t win any Academy Awards, but they will fill that part of you that just wants to relax and have a good laugh.
I think Hot Fuzz in my favourite of these films too. It worked so well.
I enjoyed The World’s End, but I thought the first half, before the *twist* was the strongest part. Just a group of old estranged friends meeting up and dealing with the past.
Once the robot/aliens made an appearance it sorta lost me a little. Still a good film, but it could have been great.
It really is a practically perfect film in its genre. I love how it is shot, enjoy how silly it is but done with a seriousness as well.
I liked the first half a lot too, though the whole thing was fun. It did get weaker with all the running from pub to pub during the second half but I felt it had a strong finish.
My friends and I saw this last night and weren’t disappointed. I liked that the robot/alien blood was a bit faker than the gorier bits of some of the other movies, as I’m a touch squeamish in movies (although strangely violence in books doesn’t bother me so much). I agree with Fence that the drunken banter and interactions of the group before the robots was the strongest part of the film, although I also rather liked the very last scene.
Yes, this could have been super gory and I would not have wanted to see it. The blue blood made it much more palatable.
I’m with you and Fence, I think those are fair assessments of the film.
Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are family favorites, so we are looking forward to this movie. (Hot Fuzz works better for me because the blood and gore in zombie movies is disgusting.) We won’t see it until it comes out on DVD, but I know we will like, especially based on your comments. And I loved Simon Pegg in the Star Trek movie (first one, we haven’t seen the 2nd one) and in Mission Impossible 4.
I was more traumatized by that scene in the end of Hot Fuzz where the dude gets impaled than by anything in Shaun of the Dead. World’s End is far less bloody than either of the other two movies. 🙂
Yes, that end scene in Hot Fuzz is probably the most gory and scary, because it could really happen.
Hope you enjoy it Tracy. I like that Pegg has gotten roles in bigger franchise films like Trek and Mission Impossible. He does a really nice job in both, he’s an especially great Scottie.
We really enjoy Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, so I’m hoping my husband and I can escape to the movies to see World’s End together. If not (babysitters are scarce), we’ll definitely be buying it as soon as it’s out. Thanks for a lovely review that doesn’t give much away, Carl.
I also really like Pegg as the young Scotty, especially in Into Darkness (Trek 2).
He was such a great casting choice in Star Trek. Really all the main characters were. Hope you guys can get a sitter soon and get out to see this one. Look forward to your thoughts.
Once again I am in the “funk” of not going to movies…old age I guess.. I know, for sure, that I will see the next Hobbit movie in December though..big surprise huh? lol..
I am guessing you still haven’t seen Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis in Burke and Hare ??
and I too, like him as Scotty! I love all that new cast!
I go through periods like that too. Until our recent trip to see Elysium and then this I hadn’t been to the movies for much of the summer.
I haven’t seen Burke and Hare yet as it isn’t available to stream on Netflix at this time. I will check it out one of these days, hopefully.
Loved THE WORLD’S END! And you’re right about the laughs in SHAUN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ. Summer movie silliness at its best!
Happy to hear it. It was fun and the timing couldn’t have been better. Great to get away for the weekend and just have some fun.
I went to the cinema to see this and thought it was very funny! While I liked Shaun of the Dead the contrast of horror and gore didn’t settle so well with me. I much preferred this one with robots rather than flesh eating zombies.
I feel the same way about Shaun of the Dead. I still like Hot Fuzz the best but this one did a really nice job of mixing the humor with the humorous violence without being gross.
I’m glad to hear you liked it! The honeyman and I have been looking forward to seeing it. Although with us moving soon, we might get to it while it’s still in the theaters… *fingers crossed*
Saw it, loved it,and i want to do a marathon to watch all three in order! If this crew keeps making movies, i’ll keep watching them.
just saw this this morning! it was so much fun. laughed hard, sang along, laughed some more. lunch was abuzz with a lengthy list of reasons why we enjoyed the film.
Not seen this one yet but it sounds great. I admit I’m a Shaun of the Dead fan personally. Just love all the silliness such as going to the pub to be safe! And the scene when they’re throwing records at the zombies but being selective about which ones to use.
Lynn 😀