The World's End is about all about trying desperately to re-live former glories and the film ends up mirroring that. You come away remembering how great Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz were, and how sad it is to see the same talent serving up something so lackluster.
The story has a promising concept, but it's a dud from the start. The pub crawl idea simply doesn't work when meshed with the sci-fi invasion. Because after the 'robots' are revealed there becomes no reason for them to continue drinking. You can throw up a flimsy explanation that they continue so as not to arouse suspicion, but it doesn't wash. Put simply: once there are robots around, you do not care if they get to The World's End.
Furthermore, I didn't much care if they got killed/replaced. None of the five are very sympathetic and they are for the most part very nondescript. These are not the kind of drinking buddies you want to go on a ride like this with. Freeman, Marsan and Considine all play similarly bland characters. They're really nothing but place-holders. Pegg and Frost, having nailed the lovable doofus previously, obviously wanted to play against type for this one and it backfires massively. If Shaun and Ed were on this pub crawl, I'd be in. Gary and Andrew? I wish I'd bailed after the first round.
Even the direction felt oddly off here. Of course there were the obligatory half-second shots of pints being poured, keys turned, etc. But it lacked the energy of Wright's previous work. In fact, it felt like no-one's heart was really in it. The whole film was came off like an idea they no longer believed in. Either that or they just haven't got it anymore. A bit depressing either way.
It's sad when people you love serve up something you hate, but The World's End is a turkey. I only wish I'd drunk twelve pints before seeing it.
The story has a promising concept, but it's a dud from the start. The pub crawl idea simply doesn't work when meshed with the sci-fi invasion. Because after the 'robots' are revealed there becomes no reason for them to continue drinking. You can throw up a flimsy explanation that they continue so as not to arouse suspicion, but it doesn't wash. Put simply: once there are robots around, you do not care if they get to The World's End.
Furthermore, I didn't much care if they got killed/replaced. None of the five are very sympathetic and they are for the most part very nondescript. These are not the kind of drinking buddies you want to go on a ride like this with. Freeman, Marsan and Considine all play similarly bland characters. They're really nothing but place-holders. Pegg and Frost, having nailed the lovable doofus previously, obviously wanted to play against type for this one and it backfires massively. If Shaun and Ed were on this pub crawl, I'd be in. Gary and Andrew? I wish I'd bailed after the first round.
Even the direction felt oddly off here. Of course there were the obligatory half-second shots of pints being poured, keys turned, etc. But it lacked the energy of Wright's previous work. In fact, it felt like no-one's heart was really in it. The whole film was came off like an idea they no longer believed in. Either that or they just haven't got it anymore. A bit depressing either way.
It's sad when people you love serve up something you hate, but The World's End is a turkey. I only wish I'd drunk twelve pints before seeing it.
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