Hey, full disclosure:
Like anyone else who has seen "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz," I am head over heels in love with the trio of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Their previous two cinematic collaborations set the "geek homage" bar so high that few films have even come close to matching them, let alone beating them at their own game.
Until "The World's End," that is, which seems hardly fair because it's the third film in the loose "Cornetto" trilogy that includes the previously mentioned films. But the Wright / Pegg/ Frost trio don't just bring their A-Game, they invent new games, and then ace those new games you never saw coming.
OK. Back up. I'm gushing. Focus, Evan. Write your love letter.
"The World's End," directed by Wright, stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Gary King and Andrew Knightley, two old friends who, along with friends Oliver (Martin Freeman), Steven (Paddy Considine) and Peter (Eddie Marsan), once embarked on an epic pub crawl in their hometown of Newton Haven. The goal: Bar #12, The World's End. The group never made it to the end.
Decades later, the boys have all moved on, gotten jobs, settled down ... except, of course, Gary, whose life is an utter mess. To make up for his shattered adulthood, Gary decides to "get the band back together," return with his friends to Newton Haven, and at last reach The World's End. Literally, as it turns out, given the fact that Newton Haven's residents have all been assimilated into some sort of hive mind. Oh, dear.
Edgar Wright uses all the action tricks he learned making "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World"(2010) to bring you some of the most well-choreographed fight scenes I've seen this year. At the screening I attended, Wright described Nick Frost's character in two apt words: Pink Hulk.
Pegg and Frost's comedic timing is unmatched by most other modern comedy duos. Unlike the first two films in the Cornetto Trilogy, however, Pegg plays the hapless waste of space while Frost plays the button-up, anal professional. It's a twist in their usual dynamic that brings out the best in both actors. I've rarely found Pegg as sympathetic as he is in "The World's End."
Wright and Pegg took several years to write the script, and it shows. Every little detail of the film is important, building little Easter eggs for the audience to enjoy long after the credits roll, so pay attention. When it comes to theme, to character, the script is spot-on. It works, in every way, and the climax to the film is as unexpected as it is hilarious and quasi-insightful in a belligerent way.
I don't want to share too much about the film. It contains so many glorious surprises.
Basically: if you like a damn clever, damn funny comedy movie loaded with real characters, emotion, blue blood and Nick Frost ripping alien bodies apart, this is the film for you.
If you don't, well. I don't know what to say.