The World's End

Batutta said:
Well I haven't disliked an Edgar Wright film yet, so I'll be there.
Click to expand...

I guess there's a first time for everything. Missed this in theaters. Saw it last night and thought it was pretty uneven. I didn't like Simon Pegg's character and actually thought he was miscast in the part. Seemed like a part Russell Brand should've played. Pegg just annoyed me, and while he's supposed to be annoying and desperate by design, the character lacked any charm to make up for his more grating qualities. The movie is about trying desperately to relive past glories and ironically that's the what the film ended up being for Edgar Wright. It wasn't terrible, and once it got going there was some fun to be had, but it felt a bit tired and the sci-fi elements were weak. And the ending epilogue didn't work for me at all (apart from the Cornetto joke).
 
Batutta said:
I guess there's a first time for everything. Missed this in theaters. Saw it last night and thought it was pretty uneven. I didn't like Simon Pegg's character and actually thought he was miscast in the part. Seemed like a part Russell Brand should've played. Pegg just annoyed me, and while he's supposed to be annoying and desperate by design, the character lacked any charm to make up for his more grating qualities. The movie is about trying desperately to relive past glories and ironically that's the what the film ended up being for Edgar Wright. It wasn't terrible, and once it got going there was some fun to be had, but it felt a bit tired and the sci-fi elements were weak. And the ending epilogue didn't work for me at all (apart from the Cornetto joke).
Click to expand...

Yeah, overall it didn't feel right.

Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are quite good, but this one is (unfortunately) forgettable.
 
Perhaps it wasn't as good as Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead, but it was still damn good. I think we might be a little jaded as we're comparing it to some great movies instead of comparing it to the vast sea of crap we usually have to swim through.
 
Andrius Simutis said:
Perhaps it wasn't as good as Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead, but it was still damn good.
Click to expand...

I agree. Saw it a few days ago, and thought it was a pretty good ending to the trilogy. I actually don't think the theme was about reliving the glory days, though that's the main character's most obvious goal. There's actually a surprisingly deep social commentary here wrapped up in a sci-fi romp. The movie, to me, was about society (the Network/"blanks") trying to force a square peg ("stupid humans" like Pegg's character (no pun intended)) into a round hole (civility). The Network is trying to force humans, who are currently too dumb and immature to be a part of galactic society, to adapt to a set of rules of civility. But underneath it all, it's about sobriety at the cost of merriment. On the surface, Gary King is a drunk who needs to grow up, but by the end, each of the other four come to realize that in "growing up," they've merely exchanged drunken escapades and hangovers for quiet, boring maturity.

Or maybe I just read too much into it. :thumbsup:
 
Eric Boellner said:
I agree. Saw it a few days ago, and thought it was a pretty good ending to the trilogy. I actually don't think the theme was about reliving the glory days, though that's the main character's most obvious goal. There's actually a surprisingly deep social commentary here wrapped up in a sci-fi romp. The movie, to me, was about society (the Network/"blanks") trying to force a square peg (Pegg, no pun intended) into a round hole. The Network is trying to force humans, who are currently too dumb and immature to be a part of galactic society, to adapt to a set of rules of civility. But underneath it all, it's about sobriety at the cost of merriment. On the surface, Gary King is a drunk who needs to grow up, but by the end, each of the other four come to realize that in "growing up," they've merely purchased societal respect and "the perfect life" at the cost of quiet, boring monotony.

Or maybe I just read too much into it. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Yes, but I just didn't find the execution of it all that consistent in quality. A lot of it seemed half realized, going through the motions, without the ingenuity or spark of the first two films.
 
Batutta said:
Yes, but I just didn't find the execution of it all that consistent in quality. A lot of it seemed half realized, going through the motions, without the ingenuity or spark of the first two films.
Click to expand...

I'll admit to being a little underwhelmed by the film, but from the trailers I wasn't really expecting something on the level of Wright's previous films. From what I heard, this film was kind of rushed as the team's good friend, Eric Bevan (producer), was battling cancer at the time and they wanted him to be able to see the final part of the Cornetto trilogy. I think I read he's doing well now, but can't find a source for that.
 
Another criticism that perhaps isn't totally fair is that the bromance between Pegg and Frost which formed the heart of the first two films was kind of absent here, with them hating each other for most of the running time. I'm sure they wanted to do something different but, it left a bit of a hole in the center of the film for me.
 
Last edited:
I was dying to see this at the cinema and it didn't even last a couple weeks.

I think Harry from AICN loved it so no doubt it won't be half as good as I was hoping.
 
Batutta said:
Another criticism that perhaps isn't totally fair is that the bromance between Pegg and Frost which formed the heart of the first two films was kind of absent here, with them hating each other for most of the running time. I'm sure they wanted to do something different but, it left a bit of a hole in the center of the film for me.
Click to expand...

You know, I wasn't too sure what it was when I said "it didn't feel right", but I think the lack of bromance was a big part that I found was really missing. An expectation based on the previous two films.

I'll watch it again though, as I wasn't in the proper mood when I saw it.
 
Denis Haineault said:
You know, I wasn't too sure what it was when I said "it didn't feel right", but I think the lack of bromance was a big part that I found was really missing. An expectation based on the previous two films.
Click to expand...

Maybe that's part of why I liked it. Nick Frost finally got to play a real character instead of just being an insufferable dumb punchline to Simon Pegg.
There was a lot of themes in the movie that weren't feel good comfortable, so going into it expecting another light hearted romp a la Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz would leave you with a bit of a hurdle to get over in order to enjoy it. I liked the dark tone and regret for days gone by aspects, but mostly it's just that the movie had a lot of really clever dialogue and joke setups throughout that you just don't see in too many other movies.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top