The World’s End (2013) Dir. Edgar Wright
I expected the end to the Cornetto trilogy to be triumphant and uplifting. After all, between the second and third film, the director, Edgar Wright, made Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, a film that is probably my favorite of the last decade and one that never fails to make me smile throughout. The World’s End has moments that feature that same irreverently joyous filmmaking; however, it is, for lack of a better description, more of a grown-up. The characters, played by Wright’s usual suspects, haven’t had easy lives, and they carry the physical and emotional scars to prove it. The film is better for the presence of these realistic, well-rounded characters, but there is enough emotional pain in the film to prevent it from being one I will throw on the television when I’m in need of an escape in years to come.
Like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the first two films tied together loosely by the casting of Pegg and Frost and the passing reference to a delicious treat, The World’s End, is Wright’s take on a popular genre, this time the body-snatching alien sci-fi movie. As he did with the zombie movie and cop movie, Wright handles the genre conventions well. The robotic blanks are genuinely creepy and the basic body-snatching conceit is as effective here as it is in the classics of the genre (though the films nod to The Thing by way of Jaws doesn’t really have the tension of Carpenter’s classic because we are pretty sure neither of the two leads will turn out to be a replica).
But it isn’t the genre tropes that really hit home. At its heart, the film is about lives of unfulfilled
promise. Pegg is perfect as Gary, a sad case who is hell bent on completing a pub crawl with his high school mates that they couldn’t quite pull off back in their day. We see Gary in what we suppose is rehab at the beginning of the film, so each drink he downs on the quest darkens the mood of the film. By the time Gary and the rest of the crew have revealed the pain and loss that has befallen them since high school (failed marriages, lack of growth, unrequited love), the film needs a triumphant and redemptive finale to lighten the mood. It doesn’t offer us one.
Instead, our heroes get a hollow victory, at best. It certainly isn’t uncommon for genre films to end on the note that The World’s End does, but I found myself wishing that the nihilism had been turned down a bit.
None of the above should be taken as a flaw with the film. In the end, I think it is one of Wright’s best. What I wonder is will it have the longevity of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, which ended on warmer (if not chipper) notes. Regardless, I recommend anyone who is a fan of Wright and company to rush out and see the film.
****/5
--Danny Webb