I remember watching this when it first came out and being highly disappointed, since I love practically anything that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are in together. The World's End is definitely the weakest outing.
I decided to give it another go after some time and space, but it turns out, it's just not that great of a movie. I love the overall plot outline, but something feels terribly off in the pacing and dialogue. It doesn't help that Pegg's character comes off as more grating than lovable loser. And there's all this tension, aggravation, and awkwardness between the characters, that it feels really off-putting. Definitely not a group of people I would enjoy being on a pub crawl with. Does anyone really believe that they would band together after all these years, regardless of a dead (but actually still alive) mother of a not very likable character?
The alien threat is both real and non-existent at the same time. They can easily recreate simulants without much trouble. But at the same time, the robots can be taken down easily by drunken middle-aged men. We find out they were really trying to move humanity forward to be part of a galactic community. But then give up after a drunken shouting match with Gary, one of humanity's worst specimens. How about talking with a Prime Minister or President instead? Yeah, yeah, it's a comedy, but come on.
Anyway, this could have been something great. It had everything going for it; a great cast, momentum from Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz, Edgar Wright behind the wheel, etc. But instead, it was a disjointed and somewhat chaotic mess. Not one of the charming, quotable, and cosy films that we're used to with this group.
I decided to give it another go after some time and space, but it turns out, it's just not that great of a movie. I love the overall plot outline, but something feels terribly off in the pacing and dialogue. It doesn't help that Pegg's character comes off as more grating than lovable loser. And there's all this tension, aggravation, and awkwardness between the characters, that it feels really off-putting. Definitely not a group of people I would enjoy being on a pub crawl with. Does anyone really believe that they would band together after all these years, regardless of a dead (but actually still alive) mother of a not very likable character?
The alien threat is both real and non-existent at the same time. They can easily recreate simulants without much trouble. But at the same time, the robots can be taken down easily by drunken middle-aged men. We find out they were really trying to move humanity forward to be part of a galactic community. But then give up after a drunken shouting match with Gary, one of humanity's worst specimens. How about talking with a Prime Minister or President instead? Yeah, yeah, it's a comedy, but come on.
Anyway, this could have been something great. It had everything going for it; a great cast, momentum from Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz, Edgar Wright behind the wheel, etc. But instead, it was a disjointed and somewhat chaotic mess. Not one of the charming, quotable, and cosy films that we're used to with this group.