24 September 2013

The World's End

The last chapter in the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy is a delightful, fun, subversive romp through the genre of the "Buddy Road Trip" and Alien Invasion/Independence Day, and even a dash of Western and Apocalypse. However, unlike the prior two entries, "Shaun of the Dead" (a modern zombie/horror-comedy classic) and "Hot Fuzz" (hilarious crime thriller/whodunit), the laughs were not consistent throughout its 100-minutes run, and neither were there many genuinely laugh-out-loud, choke on your snot kind of moments this time round. It could be that expectations were too high for this last hurrah, but nonetheless, this was still a great comedy! Miles ahead of the usual Hollywood tropes and pure money-grabbing schticks (looking at you: "Hangover"!). The cast has a great chemistry, even the usual dead fish-esque Rosamund Pike (still cannot imagine her in "Gone Girl", she and Ben Affleck?!!..what was David Fincher thinking?). Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine and Eddy Marsan were great additions to the dynamic duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Each role had a distinctive character and the actors were so brilliant in drawing the comedy out of them. There were some great one-liners and scenes, but as fore-mentioned, it was less often. Some of the running gags did get quite stale and, sadly repetitive, after a bit (but, the jumping over the fence bit? Never old...not even after three movies!). Edgar Wright's directing seemed to be verging on the Marvel-esque direction that his "Ant Man" will be bringing him towards, and he definitely needs to brush up on his close-up action choreography and quick cuts. Great music throughout too, a mash of 80/90s alt/indie rock, that really strike a chord with the audience who are the same age as the protagonists. When the main antagonist was revealed, it was a total "Oh gosh! Not again?" moment, but writers Pegg and Wright hilariously subverted our expectations, and with Bill Nighy's sardonic voice work, the climax was actually riveting. Until the final two scenes, which could be a different movie all by themselves.

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