The World's End (2013) Review

THE WORLD'S END (2013)
Director: Edgar Wright

Writers: Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright

Producers: James Biddle, Liza Chasin, Eric Fellner, Nira Park, and Tim Bevan

Editor: Paul Machliss

Cinematography: Bill Pope

Music: Steven Price

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, and Martin Freeman

Best Credit: Mark Donovan and Ricky Champ as "Big Ugly Bastards"

Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes

Rating: R (pervasive language and sexual references)

Genre: Comedy, Action, Sci-Fi

Release Date: August 23, 2013

Intro: I've been disappointed a lot with movies this summer. Maybe I'm just getting tired of the same old summer blockbuster formulas and overdone CGI, but it has seemed like a lot of this summer's movies are kind of the same. So when I saw a British comedy getting 90% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, I knew this is one I wanted to see, especially since I've heard good things about Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's stuff. I wasn't disappointed. The World's End kind of has it all. First and foremost, it's funny, but it is also very well-written, acted, and directed and makes for a really good and entertaining movie.

Plot: Back in 1990, a group of high school friends led by Gary King (Pegg) attempted the "golden mile" in their hometown of Newton-Haven, in which they would drink at 12 different bars, the last of which is the World's End. They didn't quite make it, so 23 years later, Gary wants to try again. He approaches his reluctant companions from that night and gets them to come back to Newton-Haven. However, they soon realize that a lot of things aren't quite right with the town.

Things People May Find Objectionable: The biggest thing here is swearing. There is quite a bit of language. Otherwise, there's some violence and gore, but I've seen worse in PG-13 movies. If you take out the language, this one would've easily been rated PG-13 instead of R.

What was Good:

     -Humor: Definitely a strong point of the movie. It isn't hilarious right off the bat, but once it gets going, it's really funny. In a day and age where not many quality comedies are produced, The World's End is really refreshing with its smart humor. I think it's fairly safe to say that it's the summer's funniest movie. The nice thing is that for the most part, the movie doesn't rely on cheap pop culture references for laughs, so it will probably be able to retain its humor longer than your average comedy.

     -Story: I thought the story was very well-written and pretty well-thought-out. What impressed me the most is how seamlessly they were able to blend genres. Also, the attention to detail is very nice, as a lot of stuff comes back later in the movie or makes more sense after seeing the plot unfold. I thought the ending probably could've been a little better, but overall the story was very interesting and well-told. 

     -Directing/Cinematography: I really liked the directing in this one. The shots were interesting and the movie was very visual. It's cool to see a well-directed comedy. That doesn't seem to happen all that often, as it seems a lot of the best directors opt to work on dramas or action movies instead. 

     -Script: Wow! An actually well-written summer movie! Who'da thought? Sadly, it seems like a rarity nowadays, so it makes me even more impressed when I see good writing in a movie. The attention to detail is great and the script and story are both very smart.

Simon Pegg's stuck-in-the-90's character, Gary King, holding
a map of the "Golden Mile" the characters attempt

     -Acting: The acting is one of the main reasons the movie worked as well as it did. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are both great, and their supporting cast of Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, and Eddie Marsan are really good at backing them up. As one of my friends mentioned, the line delivery is part of the reason some of the lines were so funny, which says a lot about the actors.

     -Special Effects: This isn't a movie you'd expect to have first rate special effects, but they are actually pretty good. They are used relatively sparingly, they look pretty convincing, and above all they work.

Worth Noting:
     -Characters/Emotional Involvement: This was good for both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's characters, as the characters are refreshingly well-developed. However, the other characters seem a little thin and somewhat forgotten by the screenwriters at times. It works, but sometimes you wonder what happened to a certain character and start wondering if anyone cares about them anymore.

     -Action/Suspense: The movie actually has a nice action side to it, even though it's not as wall-to-wall with its action as something like Iron Man 3. It's exciting, but the focus is the humor.

     -Originality: The movie was very original in that it essentially blended 3 genres. It took a typical sci-fi plot, a typical action plot, and a typical buddy comedy plot and mashed them together. This kind of blending is hard to pull off, but the filmmakers do it very, very well.

     -Intelligence: Unlike a lot of summer movies, especially comedies, the movie is very smart. The writers know what they're doing and have obviously thought a lot of the plot and the jokes through. It's really nice to see this for once. 

The Verdict: The World's End is either the best or tied for the best (with Star Trek: Into Darkness) movie I've seen this summer. It has just about everything. It's funny and it also has good acting, directing, writing, and a healthy dose of action and character development. I would definitely recommend seeing this one. Though it takes a little bit to get going, once it does, it's a really fun, funny, and enjoyable movie.

Liking my reviews? Like my Facebook page.