Post by auntym on Aug 21, 2013 11:46:32 GMT -6
www.wired.com/underwire/2013/08/worlds-end-review/
The World’s End: A Touching Alien-Invasion Pub-Crawl Movie About Finally Growing Up
By Devon Maloney
08.21.13
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. No, not 18th century France, but the experience of being 18 years old — that emotionally magnified fulcrum in life from whence everyone, supposedly, takes off. That glorious adolescent purgatory is one of Western storytelling’s most beloved tools, so it’s only fitting that cult film heroes Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg have decided to wrap up their so-called Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy with a final installment that, on its surface, is about a handful of grown men getting hammered in the midst of a condescending alien takeover, but at its core, it’s about the exact opposite.
The World’s End is the culmination of the Wright and Pegg trilogy, which also includes Shaun of the Dead (2004), and Hot Fuzz (2007), two cult-favorite stories about modern life delivered via the Trojan horse of a genre film — a zombie flick for Shaun, a buddy-cop picture for Fuzz. The World’s End is no different, except that this one is hidden in the guise of an apocalypse flick. The third installment of their nerd-powered opus revolves around a return to the modest, suburban upbringings of its characters, another reliable trope at the multiplex — except in this flick Wright and Pegg decided to set it on fire.
We saw this coming. The genius of the Cornetto film lies in their knowledge of and subsequent ability to improvise within known genres and structures. If you’ve seen the World’s End trailer, you know what it’s about: Four childhood bros, now boring and pushing 40, somehow get convinced by their former ringleader to recreate a bonkers pub crawl they first attempted when they were 18. And true to form, The World’s End is no different from its predecessors when it comes to its aging man-child themes (grow up, don’t be a dick, get drunk with your friends), recurring jokes (the fences, the circular banter, the infamous Cornetto cones), and impeccable timing for which the Cornetto Crew are revered.
Amidst bizarre, horn-driven intro music peppered with WWII-era sound-bytes about liberation and “getting loaded,” we meet Gary King (Pegg), a drug-addled, would-be Peter Pan, who realizes mid-support group that his life never got better than the night his gang finished high school and attempted that vaunted 12-pub crawl, the Golden Mile. Flinging himself off the wagon, he uses an assortment of half-truths, complete lies, and money-shuffling to get his four best friends — Peter (Eddie Marsan), Steven (Paddy Considine), Oliver (Freeman) and Andy (Frost), none of whom have heard from Gary in about 20 years — on-board to try the Golden Mile all over it again.
CONTINUE READING: www.wired.com/underwire/2013/08/worlds-end-review/
THE WORLD'S END - Official Trailer
In theaters August 23, 2013 (US)
Director Edgar Wright and actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite for a third film following the successes "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) and "Hot Fuzz" (2007). In "The World's End," 20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hellbent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year-old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their hometown and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub -- The World's End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind's. Reaching The World's End is the least of their worries.
The World’s End: A Touching Alien-Invasion Pub-Crawl Movie About Finally Growing Up
By Devon Maloney
08.21.13
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. No, not 18th century France, but the experience of being 18 years old — that emotionally magnified fulcrum in life from whence everyone, supposedly, takes off. That glorious adolescent purgatory is one of Western storytelling’s most beloved tools, so it’s only fitting that cult film heroes Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg have decided to wrap up their so-called Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy with a final installment that, on its surface, is about a handful of grown men getting hammered in the midst of a condescending alien takeover, but at its core, it’s about the exact opposite.
The World’s End is the culmination of the Wright and Pegg trilogy, which also includes Shaun of the Dead (2004), and Hot Fuzz (2007), two cult-favorite stories about modern life delivered via the Trojan horse of a genre film — a zombie flick for Shaun, a buddy-cop picture for Fuzz. The World’s End is no different, except that this one is hidden in the guise of an apocalypse flick. The third installment of their nerd-powered opus revolves around a return to the modest, suburban upbringings of its characters, another reliable trope at the multiplex — except in this flick Wright and Pegg decided to set it on fire.
We saw this coming. The genius of the Cornetto film lies in their knowledge of and subsequent ability to improvise within known genres and structures. If you’ve seen the World’s End trailer, you know what it’s about: Four childhood bros, now boring and pushing 40, somehow get convinced by their former ringleader to recreate a bonkers pub crawl they first attempted when they were 18. And true to form, The World’s End is no different from its predecessors when it comes to its aging man-child themes (grow up, don’t be a dick, get drunk with your friends), recurring jokes (the fences, the circular banter, the infamous Cornetto cones), and impeccable timing for which the Cornetto Crew are revered.
Amidst bizarre, horn-driven intro music peppered with WWII-era sound-bytes about liberation and “getting loaded,” we meet Gary King (Pegg), a drug-addled, would-be Peter Pan, who realizes mid-support group that his life never got better than the night his gang finished high school and attempted that vaunted 12-pub crawl, the Golden Mile. Flinging himself off the wagon, he uses an assortment of half-truths, complete lies, and money-shuffling to get his four best friends — Peter (Eddie Marsan), Steven (Paddy Considine), Oliver (Freeman) and Andy (Frost), none of whom have heard from Gary in about 20 years — on-board to try the Golden Mile all over it again.
CONTINUE READING: www.wired.com/underwire/2013/08/worlds-end-review/
THE WORLD'S END - Official Trailer
In theaters August 23, 2013 (US)
Director Edgar Wright and actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite for a third film following the successes "Shaun of the Dead" (2004) and "Hot Fuzz" (2007). In "The World's End," 20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hellbent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year-old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their hometown and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub -- The World's End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind's. Reaching The World's End is the least of their worries.