Movie Review: The World's End

There are laughs to be had in The World's End, but there is tedium to endure as well, as a team of japesters complete their 'trilogy'.

The team of japesters that brought you the classic zom-rom-com Shaun of the Deadand that culty cop caper Hot Fuzz complete a trilogy of sorts with The World's End.

There are laughs to be had here, as is always the case when Brit double-act Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are in the mix.

However, there is tedium to endure as well. Despite a first-rate ensemble cast - including Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman and, err, Pierce Brosnan - the anything-goes energy that coursed through the earlier pictures can only occasionally be detected.

This world does indeed end with a bang, but it's slightly muffled one. The story has undeniable potential to match the team's earlier outings.

Pegg and Frost spearhead a posse of old friends (Freeman, Considine and Eddie Marsan) who reconvene in their old home village to complete a pub crawl they never quite finished in their youth.

It should be a straightforward night on the turps, really. Down a pint in all 12 of the hamlet's inns, relive a few former glories, then return toliving their current lives.

So what's the apocalyptic catch flagged by the title, then? Well, it turns out the small town of Newton Haven is a big hub for an alien race in the process of taking over the planet.

These visitors have a habit of taking over human bodies and making them their own. Known as "blanks," these beings are not unlike robots. They don't mind a fight, and can reassemble themselves swiftly if they do happen to lose a scrap.

Oh, and when blanks are seriously injured, they do not bleed red blood. Instead, they secrete a neon-blue goo.

Got all that? Good.

It is at the fourth pub on their crawl that our heavy-drinking heroes realise that Newton Haven is almost entirely populated by passive-aggressive androids.

Nevertheless, they push on with their quenching quest, further antagonising the aliens until a life-and-death showdown looms at pub number 12. Which calls itself, funnily enough, The World's End.

As a whole, this movie does struggle to make a little go a long way. It could be argued that while the story component is well handled, the characters are never built up (or perhaps, let loose) enough to become great company.

Put it this way. If the world was ending and you could only choose one movie about the end of the world, you'd have to go with Seth Rogen, James Franco and the gang in This is the End.

The World's End

Director: Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead)

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan.

Rating: **1/2

Armageddon a bit tired