The World's End (2013)

What better thing to do the weekend before school starts than go to the movies? The only movie I wanted to see this weekend was The World's End. We are huge fans of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's other collaborations, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. We even took the kids to see The World's End because of their love of Shaun of the Dead.

The Premise

A group of five friends reunite after 20 years to complete the Golden Mile, a mile long pub crawl in their home town. Things have changed since they left, but they slowly start to realize that things are definitely not all they seem. They race on to complete their personal quest and at the same time, try to save the world.

My Take

The cast was fantastic. I adore Martin Freeman, who took the role of Oliver. He plays my favorite version of Watson in BBC's rendition of Sherlock. I only wish we in the states could see it before the episodes were a year or two old. Paddy Considine is cast as Steven. He was in Hot Fuzz with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who takes a different role in this movie. In the two previous films, Frost was the dumb, yet lovable, sidekick. In The World's End, Frost's character was more serious. It stretched his acting chops and he wasn't overshadowed by these other great actors; this time because of his ability not because of his antics. Simon Pegg took the role with more shenanigans this time. He plays the group's ring leader, Gary King. Eddie Marsan, who can currently be seen on Showtime's Ray Donovan, rounded out the group as Peter.

Gary gets it in his head that life was never better than it was 20 years ago when he had all his friends together and they were trying to complete their epic pub crawl. He begs, borrows and steals his way into convincing the old gang into trying it one last time. For Gary, the 90's never ended. It's sad, because I think I know people like that.

As the men make their way through town, they begin to feel that things have changed. People bleed blue blood, lights shine out of their eyes, their cell phones don't work and no one has recognized them. They decide the best thing to do is to get to The World's End, the last pub, and get down to root of the problem. Meanwhile they're getting beaten up, chased, and, of course, tanked.

If you're familiar with Pegg and Wright's sense of humor, you'll enjoy the irony of the names of the pubs the guys visit. For example, the first pub is aptly named "The First Post". The guys get into a fight at "The Cross Hands". There are many similarities between The World's End and the previous two movies. This made watching it even better. It was like being part of a private joke. There were characters we knew and scenes that were familiar. It was a satisfying end to their trilogy.

But now that it's over, what's next? You can tell me...

The Verdict

My whole family enjoyed The World's End (ages 8 and up). I don't think it was as good as Shaun of the Dead, but I don't think anyone ever really measures up to their first big hit. Especially when a pedestal has been set so high. I still loved the movie. I laughed the whole way through. The ending was a bit weak for me, but I am only one person. And let's face it, I probably couldn't have done it better myself. I give The World's End 10/12 pints of beer.