The World’s End [Celluloid Hero]

The World's End (2013)

Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright have collaborated on what is known as the "Cornetto Trilogy", a reference to an ice cream brand featured across all the movies. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End are not a trilogy in the sense that each movie continues the same story, but instead it features many of the same actors, the same writer/director, and a similar style across all the movies.

The World's End begins about thirty years in the past, as a group of friends graduate high school and try to take on the ultimate pub crawl, visiting all twelve pubs located in their town. The attempt fails, and while most of the guys grow up, mature, and get real jobs, one is never able to get over the failure of that night. Gary attempts to "get the band back together" for another shot at completing the crawl.

A few pubs in, the guys get in a fight with some local teens, who turn out to be cyborg replicants of former residents. A supernatural plot unfolds, explaining a wide-spread alien invasion by The Network. The Network actually intends to improve humanity, claiming responsibility for all of the technological advances of the last century in order to bring humanity closer and prepare us for membership into a 'galactic community' of enlightened planets.

The crew behind these movies always made it a point to not just choose a genre and force a story into it. Instead they begin with the story, then add in the elements of "what would happen if (a) zombies were invading (b) there was a cult in town or (c) aliens were taking over?" That approach is what lets the movies be classified as "zombie-romantic-comedies" or "buddy-cop-occult" or "drunken alien coming-of-age". When you boil them down, the entire trilogy focuses on characters who are in a sort of perpetual childhood, refusing to grow up or move on.

Shaun of the Dead is one of my favorite movies. Hot Fuzz took me a few viewing to really appreciate, and I enjoyed The World's End right away. I'm a fan of Wright's directing style, I love the writing of Wright and Pegg, and the comedic timing and acting from the casts are always great.