Edgar Wright fans have waited quite some time for the final installment of his trilogy of films with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Whether you call it the Three Flavours Trilogy, the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, or the Cornetto Trilogy, it all refers to the same three films: ‘Shaun of the Dead’, ‘Hot Fuzz’, and the newly released ‘The World’s End‘.
In the movie, Gary King gets his four former best mates back together to take on the Golden Mile, a pub crawl featuring twelve bars that they attempted twenty years ago in their hometown of Newton Haven, but never made it to the final pub. However, when the gang returns to their old stomping grounds, they begin to notice some pretty big changes, like the alien invasion that has taken over pretty much everyone and everything.
First of all, this is the sort of movie that you really need to see twice to get everything. There are so many little things that you’d miss the first time around that are worth going back to see again. For example, there’s the significance of each pub’s name and sign. There are also all the little gags that are carried out through the trilogy. The most obvious might be the fence gag that’s seen in the trailer, but there are a few more hidden gems in there as well. On the second viewing, it’s also cool to pick out all the foreshadowing scattered throughout the first act.
Next, the action was top notch. Of the three, despite the actors being older than they were when they started doing these films, ‘The World’s End’ had the most action than any other film in the trilogy. Wright definitely applied what he learned from ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ here because not only were these scenes incredibly badass, but there were fun comedic moments too. I recall one scene in particular where Pegg is trying to keep beer in his pint throughout the fight, but when he finally gets a chance to drink, it’s already empty. But that’s not as surprising since we’ve come to expect that from the filmmaker over the course of his career. The highlight of these fight scenes is definitely Frost. For a bigger guy, he moves around with such agility and grace. During a Q&A session with all three men, he was introduced as the Pink Hulk as a joke, but he definitely channeled the Jade Giant constantly. Either the Hulk or the Rock because Frost’s Rock Bottom could give Dwayne Johnson a run for his money.
Another enjoyable aspect of the film is the smart dialogue and the themes that they explore throughout the film. On the outside, you get a jolly sci-fi comedy about the end of the world, however, there are some really dark and serious things going on that people should consider. In a way, the lightheartedness is a Trojan horse used to talk about things like the dangers of living in the past, drug abuse, and a sense of alienation. Not quite what you’d expect from an Edgar Wright movie, but the way that he and Pegg sneak in some of these serious issues is brilliant.
Finally, while there were many things that I enjoyed immensely about the movie, I will say that parts of the third act dragged on too much. There’s a scene during the climax that just seems never ending. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the dialogue and the writing, but this part was sort of difficult to watch since it was so much talking. It wasn’t as bad the second time, but I specifically remember feeling a little underwhelmed with the conclusion the first time I watched the film. Though that didn’t last long since the epilogue was an excellent way to end things.
After it was all said and done, ‘The World’s End’ was a fitting end to the Cornetto Trilogy, yet it still managed to stand alone as an excellent film all by itself. Out of the many awesome films that I’ve seen this summer, this one definitely makes the list of top five best ones. It might even be one of my favorites of the year so far. Everyone should consider seeing it multiple times in order to enjoy the last bite of this Cornetto.
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