The World's End

2013 • 109 minutes

About this movie

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reteam with director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) in this wildly entertaining thrill ride. Twenty years after their first epic pub crawl attempt, the "five musketeers" reunite in their home town to complete the ultimate challenge -one night, five friends, twelve bars -a boozy quest on which only the strongest will survive. But after a bizarre series of encounters with the out-of-this-world locals, they soon realize that reaching their final pub, The World's End, may be the least of their troubles. They're having the time of their lives, ready to take on the world...but tonight they may have to save it. (Original Title - The World's End)

Ratings and reviews

This doesn't quite match up to Shaun of the Dead, but if you've enjoyed their other films, you will enjoy this one. They successfully draw out some of the things that are so typically English with their thoughtful humour. The film doesn't try to take itself too seriously - a deep plot is not the point. And it's not predictable, which is rare these days.

Once again, aliens who masquerade as humans are infiltrating the Earth in this deadpan comedy that pastiches such classic imposter flicks as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, They Live, and The Stepford Wives. The film is perhaps a tad over-long, and plods in parts, but Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's usual subversive and very British humour still shines through.

Though in contrast to the two prior installments of the 'Blood and Ice Cream' trilogy, I think this is an underrated film that deserves to stand alongside Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. While those two films saw their main characters struggle to adapt to the world changing around them, Gary King simply refuses to grow up and fit in to society, and as the film progresses, we start to realise that his friends haven't really grown up either, they're just living the lie of adulthood, each trying to preserve the past in their own way - through dating a 26 year old, having laser surgery or lying about their happy marriage. It turns out that Gary is the only truly honest character in the film, and it's only when the world literally changes around him that he finds happiness in simply being himself.