The World's End

"We're going to see this through to the bitter end. Or... lager end."

The town of Newton Haven is home to a stretch of 12 pubs, known as "The Golden Mile."  In the 1990s, five childhood friends, Gary King (Pegg), Andy Knightley (Frost), Steven Prince (Considine), Peter Page (Marsan), and Oliver Chamberlain (Freeman), attempted the epic pub crawl.  They never finished, and their failure becomes an obsession for Gary:

Tonight, we will be partaking of a liquid - as we wind our way up the golden mile commencing with an inaugural tankard in The First Post, then on to The Old Familiar - The Good Companion, The Trusty Servant, The Two-Headed Dog, The Mermaid, The Beehive, The King's Head, and The Hole In The Wall for a measure of the same. All before the last bittersweet pint in that most fateful, The World's End, leave a light on good lady, although we may return with a twinkle in our eyes, we will be in truth blind - drunk.

Twenty years later, Gary is an alcoholic and decides the time is right to reunite with his friends and try "The Golden Mile" again.  His friends are now successful adults with full-time jobs and families: Andy is a successful lawyer, Steven is an architect and dating a younger woman, Peter is a partner at his father's car dealership, and Oliver is a realtor.  They are skeptical, but agree to the plan and return to Newton Haven.

They begin the quest at The First Post, joined by Oliver's sister Sam (Pike), who has a history with Gary.  Life at home is not what they expect: no one remembers them and people are acting strange.  As the night goes on they realize that there is more at stake than reaching The World's End...



The high anticipated third and final film in Edgar Wright’s “Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy” (with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) reunites director Edgar Wright and stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.  Unlike it's predecessors that tackled very specific films/genres (Shaun of the Dead was a reaction to George Romero's zombie films, while Hot Fuzz tackled the buddy cop genre, like Bad Boys), this film film tackles the science fiction genre (as a whole) and reflecting on youthful ambitions / relationships.  On the surface it may seem like a science fiction comedy, with plenty of action / violence, but it also tackles deeper issues in relevant ways.

While this is their third film collaboration, it still feels fresh.  Pegg branches out and plays against type, allowing Frost to step up and shine in this film.  Their friendship remains a strong theme of the film.  They are surrounded by a strong cast, including actors from their previous films and from their TV show Spaced (also directed by Wright).  Fans of Wright, Pegg, and Frost’s collaborations will not be disappointed in the casting choices.

I have been anticipating this film for years... I have watched all of the Wright-Pegg-Frost collaborations with one of my closest friends from high school (we watched Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Spaced, and Asylum, and Paul), so it only felt right to see this film in theaters with her.  During the film we kept pointing out regulars from these previous collaborations (the biggest excitement for us was seeing Julia Deakin, Marsha from Spaced, and Mark Heap, Brian from Spaced) and laughing along with the rest of the audience.  It was a good film, but didn't quite meet our expectations.  I want to see it again, once it is released on DVD, to see what else I pick up and to see if I like it more with repeat viewings.

A worthy addition to Wright’s trilogy.

The World's End (2013) 109 minutes
Rating: R for pervasive language including sexual references
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Simon Pegg as Gary King
Nick Frost as Andy Knightley
Paddy Constantine as Steven Prince
Martin Freeman as Oliver Chamberlain
Eddie Marsan as Peter Page
Rosamund Pike as Sam Chamberlain