In 2004 British Director Edgar Wright tickled our funny bones with the delirious zombie satire Shaun of the Dead. It was only his first proper feature film after a slew of TV and amateur films, yet was enough proof to show that this man has enormous talent. Follow ups Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World amazed with impressive sound and visual effects. With Wright’s achievements in mind, there were high hopes for his latest film. 

The World’s End is about five childhood friends in their mid-thirties who reunite when one of them decides that they should go on an epic drinking marathon; 12 pubs and 12 pints in one alcohol fueled night. Gary King (Simon Pegg) is the leader of this group, who convinces the friends to travel to their hometown for this pub crawl. As the night goes on, things start to get very strange, involving “robots” filled with blue stuff. 

As the movie goes on, the writers (Pegg and Wright) start running out of ideas. Though the runtime is only 109 minutes, it feels far too long for this film. The first forty minutes are hilarious and fun filled, but the rest leaves much to be desired. It seems as if the writers had a brilliant idea, but had no idea where to go with it. It starts with witty comedy, and then devolves into long winded explanations of why humans screw up and why killer robots exist. 

If The World’s End tried to be a complex philosophical meditation about the nature of man while masquerading as a comedy, then it completely failed. The picture is shallower than a kiddie pool infested with glamour models.  Other than Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s characters, the cast feels bland and pointless, only there to fill a void. Unlike the rest of Wright’s filmography The World’s End lacks the direction his other films have had. This can easily be considered his worst picture.

Check local listings for showtimes.

Visit pissonit.blogspot.ca for more reviews from Michael Carlisle.

Published in Volume 68, Number 2 of The Uniter (September 11, 2013)