The World's End (Edgar Wright, 2013)

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Red Screamer
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:34 pm
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The World's End (Edgar Wright, 2013)

#1 Post by Red Screamer » Sun Aug 25, 2013 2:06 pm

Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.

What does everyone think of The World's End? Is it a fitting finale to the "Three Flavours Trilogy"? How does it compare to "Shaun" and "Hot Fuzz"? What did each of the bar names mean? And how did you read the ending?

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jindianajonz
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:11 pm

Re: The World's End (Wright, 2013)

#2 Post by jindianajonz » Sun Aug 25, 2013 10:25 pm

Superswede11 wrote:Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.

What does everyone think of The World's End? Is it a fitting finale to the "Three Flavours Trilogy"? How does it compare to "Shaun" and "Hot Fuzz"? What did each of the bar names mean? And how did you read the ending?
I thought the movie tried to do three different things: It wanted to be funny, it wanted to be suspenseful and actiony, and it wanted to have thematic depth. I felt it was slightly disappointing in the first, fairly disappointed in the second, and had mixed emotions in the third. This may make it sound like a bad film, but it really wasn't- just don't expect comedic and suspense highs that Shaun of the Dead had.

I feel that the lack of comedy was almost by design- from the outset, Simon Pegg played a depressing and pitiful character- but the action scenes really bored me for the most part, and the conclusion
SpoilerShow
with the three protagonists petulantly arguing with the "network" until it just got frustrated and left
was just downright bad.

Thematically, it was a bit on the nose at times, but there was enough complexity to make me feel like I will get some more out of it after seeing it a second time. I thought it was interesting how they tied
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not maturing with not conforming, and took the time to explore the positive and negative aspects of each, but I also came out with a sense that the overall message had been a bit jumbled. Early on Gary was obviously a sad pathetic creature that couldn't escape living in the past, and his decision to not conform/mature/"evolve" led to the end of the world, but this still resulted in happiness for him as he unwittingly stumbled into a happy ending despite the fact that he never really changed.
Still, there were a lot of genuinely good moments, some creative shots, and a few laughs.

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mfunk9786
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Re: The Films of 2013

#3 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Aug 29, 2013 11:20 am

The World's End really didn't click for me. I didn't dislike it - in fact, it had a lot of charm and humor and creative direction going for it, and was much better than the tone deaf Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, but that isn't saying much. The supernatural premise here never quite fits the through-line of the story, feels unwelcome when it begins, and becomes increasingly less entertaining as time goes on. There are some really tremendous and funny action sequences (typically involving Pegg trying to hang onto his beer), but for the most part, it feels a bit scattered and incomprehensible, particularly towards the very end. The first 30-45 minutes of the film are a treasure, though - and it's one I'll revisit to see if it improves. There's a lot to like here, it just didn't all work for me.
Last edited by mfunk9786 on Mon Oct 07, 2013 2:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Ibnezra
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Re: The Films of 2013

#4 Post by Ibnezra » Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:11 am

Getting back to "World's End", after a second viewing, the final chapter of the Corenetto trilogy is beginning to grow on me, but any way you slice it, this film is a bit of a disappointment compared to "Shaun of the Dead" and particularly "Hot Fuzz". Don't expect half the laughs, the same level of excitement, or even a margin of the same "biting" social commentary you've derived from the other films, and then it isn't half bad. The whole "starbucking" thing is a compelling observation, I just wish they would have taken the idea to a more interesting place. Coincedentally, wasn't Starbuck the only member of the Pequod's crew to question Ahab's aims and methods, the prevailing order and social dynamic of the world he found himself in? How ironic his name should be turned into a verb describing the action of bringing something into conformity. Melville would probably 'ave a laugh, wun'e?

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Re: The World's End (Edgar Wright, 2013)

#5 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Sat Dec 18, 2021 7:55 pm

Revisited this one today. This holds up just as well as Hot Fuzz but for partly different reasons. The trilogy is as much about fading youth and the perils of nostalgia and in this instance, the kind of charm that made Pegg’s character so awed in high school but finds himself stuck in the cycle of secretly knowing it never got better than it did that one night, rather than adjusting to the changes that come when the nests are all empty and new ones are being tended to by your friends.

I don’t think this succeeds as well as a comedy as Hot Fuzz, which I have no problem saying it’s still my favorite comedy of the last 20 years. But this also evolved past that into something much more deeper and personal. Some of those moments between Pegg’s Gary King and his friends, particularly the character played by Nick Frost (whose battle cry before a major action sequence is my favorite line from any of the Cornettos) are so heart-wrenchingly sad if you’ve had to deal with being the sober one amongst those you care about.

For his part in this I have to give Pegg extra kudos for essentially making this right after his own struggles with alcohol, and channeling such a deep twisted part of his life into what was an excellent performance.

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