It’s Shaun of the Dead, but with robots.
Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright. Simon and Edgar. Si and Ed.
Why did you do this?
Let’s be clear here: Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the other two films in the ‘Cornetto Trilogy’ by S and E (can’t go any shorter than that) are splendid cinematic works. Films of genuine comedy, originality (sort of) and replay value. Then this.
‘The World’s End’ tells the story of Gary King (Simon Pegg), a man who once, along with his gang of close friends, was super popular at school. On the last day of their education, they embarked on The Golden Mile, a 12-pub crawl that culminates at The World’s End (you see? The title of the film is the name of the pub). But they didn’t complete it for some reason (I’ve actually forgotten, I think someone died or something). So anyway, Gary decides to recruit the old gang and give The Golden Mile one last attempt. Like 20 years after they left school. So guess what?! They’ve all got different lives and families and jobs! I bet it will be tricky getting them together, eh Gary?!?!?! But for some reason they all agree to it, despite the fact they all seem to resent him.
The pub crawl is going fine, until Gary tries to talk to a teenage boy in a toilet. A lot of people could tell you that talking to teenage boys in toilets rarely ends well. The situation is no different here, as Gary gets in a fight with this teenage boy and accidentally beheads him. But wait! He’s not human! He’s a zombie robot!
It was at this point where I started to question some stuff:
a) How many seconds did it take to come up with this plot?
b) Why am I here? This Pepsi was £3.95. That’s too much.
c) I have to be up for work precisely 7.5 hours after this film finishes, was going to see this film the worst decision I’ve ever made?
I don’t need to tell you the rest. But I will.
- The
zombiesrobots are here to take over - Simon Pegg isn’t having it
- Neither is Nick Frost
- Martin Freeman is an estate agent
- They all disliked Gary at the start but by the end they’re friends
- The imminent apocalypse is still not enough to dissuade Gary King from trying to finish a pub crawl
- The robots are stopped from taking over the world by a speech from an alcoholic.
I know alcoholism is a horrific disease that ruins lives, but I reckon even the most hardcore drinker would probably pass on that last pint if their very world was literally exploding around them.
I just feel like this film was a Simon Pegg’s way of saying “look, I’ve made fucking loads of money, people in America know that I exist, so just have this shit film I made and stop hassling me because I’m off to do an underwhelming skit as a drunk Ron Weasley on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon”.
3/10*
*2/10
