Five friends walk into a bar.  Then another.  And another…

The World’s End is a movie about five high school friends who once attempted to drink a pint at each of the twelve bars in their town.  This feat is referred to as the golden mile, but they couldn’t quite pull it off.  Their fearless leader (Simon Pegg) walks around in a black trench coat, combat boots, and a punk rock attitude about anything and everything.  His right hand man (Nick Frost) always has his back.  Their three other friends (Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, and Eddie Marsan) and mainly along for the ride.  Years pass.  They lose touch with one another.  Everyone moves on in life except for Gary King (Simon Pegg).  So he gets the gang back together to attempt to finish the golden mile, hoping that it will fill the hole that has become his life.

Okay, so we all saw Shaun of the Dead right?  What about Hot Fuzz?  Some loved the first and weren’t really down with Hot Fuzz.  Those people were wrong.  Hot Fuzz is great.  Taking the formula that worked so well in those two movies, The World’s End decides to flip Nick Frost and Simon Pegg from their usual character roles.  This time, Simon Pegg is the bumbling idiot, while Nick Frost plays the level-headed one.  The good is that Nick Frost pulls off the role switch with colors, giving an impassioned strength to the character.  The bad is that Simon Pegg pulls of the idiot, but can’t quite give him the endearing likeability that Frost normally does.

The first two acts of the movie are tightly weaved, supplying several fun moments.  The cinematography is hands down the best of the three, with Edgar Wright’s love of quick-cut, adrenaline fueled expositions showing his experience from the past few movies he’s done come full circle.  The choreographer from the past few movies returns as well.  Learn her name.

Litza Bixler.

She is wonderful and The World’s End is easily her crowning achievement in choreography, with fight scenes that would fall to pieces in less capable hands.

In fact, The World’s End can be summed up by the choreography and cinematography.  Edgar Wright shines as a director.  Litza Bixler knocks it out with the choreography.  The third act though?  Frankly, it was a let down.  The final joke gets a bit stretched out and heavy-handed.  The time wasted in this scene could have been used to show off more of the rich back story between the five friends.  Luckily, there is a fun little epilogue that ties things up without giving the typical “happy ending”.

This is a small complaint and the movie is a good time, but definitely not as powerful as Shaun of the Dead or as thrilling as Hot Fuzz.

I give The World’s End a 7 out of 10.

Johnny Townsend

Staff Writer

Koala@ihogeek.com