The World’s End – Review

Posted by His Master's Review ⋅ October 1, 2013 ⋅ Leave a comment

Filed Under Cross Hands, Edgar Wright, Gary, Martin Freeman, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Simon Pegg, World's End

A movie that brings director Wright with actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost together needs of necessity to be good. Who cares if the world ends with a bang or whimper or over beer cans?!

Five people of 40+ years unite to complete a pub crawl, the ‘Golden Mile’ initially undertaken by them over two decades earlier and left unfinished.

TWE_SIGN_MASTER_Teaser Poster
Courtesy: Universal Pictures (Australia)

Four of them—Andy Knightley [Nick frost], Paddy Considine [Steven Prince] Peter Page [Eddie Marson] and Oliver “O-Man” Chamberlaine [Martin Freeman] are on one end of the spectrum in their definitive ‘grown-up’ attire having been through the mill of social conventions of marriage/divorce and work cycle while the 5th, Gary King [Simon Pegg] still sports high school gear an remains ‘imprisoned’ in his adolescent mode.

The re-union of the old buddies, their inter-group squabbles, their fights with the robots that they find cast in the mould of the locals lead to not only uninhibited laughter all along but also to insights on how the survival of the entire human race hinges on the group.

Courtesy: Universal Pictures (Australia)

The 12 pubs which they must cover walking or busing, are in their hometown, Newton Haven.

Imbued with artistically symbolic names like ‘The First Post’, ‘The Old Familiar’, ‘The Famous Cock’, ‘The Cross Hands’ where Robot invasion is discovered or like the last one from which the movie draws its title ‘The World’s End‘, beer has to be sipped at each joint.

In a kind of 21st century Pilgrim’s Progress the group nears the journey’s end with Gary gulping the final beer drops and tearfully confessing the significance of the Golden Mile to him.

A beautifully shot buddy movie, with avoidable sci-fic angle is a surprisingly simple and refreshingly fresh take on the twin facets of not only bonding of friends but of alcohol overload as well.

Gary, rooted in adolescence, must target the Authorities, a situation which can cause embarrassment to his grown-up buddie yet Gary revels in this display of rage and herein lies most of the naivety, fun and charm of the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlv32GnrodA

Watch it with mates over beer and revel in the fun.

Rating: 3.5 stars

By Joseph Rana, Editor-in-chief, His Master’s Review