Spoiler Warning: If you don't want to be spoiled for the big twist, watch this film first, then read on.
I'm kind of a late comer to the Edgar Wright fan club. I was aware of Shaun of the Dead when it came out, and heard the reviews, but as I'm not much of a zombie fan I didn't make any effort to see it*. Being that I was a late comer to checking out british TV shows, I didn't jump on the Spaced bandwagon until relatively recently. My first real appreciation for his work was when I went to see Hot Fuzz, unaware of what I was getting into. The result was one of my favorite movies of 2007, which is saying something as that is one of my favorite years of movies. Three years later came Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, which again made my top ten for that year. By then Edgar Wright was on my "must see" list, along with The Coen Brothers and the Andersons Wes and P.T.**
Still, given the high standing of those previous films, I admit I wasn't overly excited for The World's End. Part of that was a lack of familiarity with it, as I hadn't really kept up with it (or most movies for that matter). Also, it's move from October to August gave me pause, as the latter half of August tends to be a dumping ground for lesser movies. So even though I knew I was going to see it, I admit being a bit wary about it heading in to the theater.
Looking back, I have to say to myself "W.T.F, Andrew?"
Sure, it has everything you've come to expect from Wright films. There's meticulously choreographed fight scenes, language based humor, and background easter eggs, references, and thematic notes to fill plenty of trivia items for the film. Some of the usual deconstruction found in the other two legs of the "Cornetto Trilogy", this time sci-fi, is there as well. Were it just this, it would have been a quite enjoyable time at the movies.
However, what elevates this and makes it a frequent contender for my every moving top ten list is the story, tone, and characters. This is a more reflective film than Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead. In fact, until Simon Pegg walks into the bathroom at pub #4 and knocks the head off the teenaged Blank, you get lost in a completely different film. Up to that point, it's a somewhat stark dramedy about a alcoholic trying to relive his last great day (a teenaged pub crawl), and the friends who are fed up with his antics. I have to admit it was rough seeing Nick Frost play a character who clearly had some serious issues with Pegg, considering their easy camaraderie in previous films. It was a rough go at first, and Pegg totally sold the character of King, right down to him still having the same car (and mix tape) from twenty years before. A part of me kind of wants to see the movie as it plays out if the wonderfully chaotic bathroom brawl doesn't happen.
However, as we settle in to the sci-fi portion of the film, it slowly is revealed that the conflict that fueled the first half is still quite alive in this second portion. As the "Network's" plan is slowly unfurled, we also see that Gary King's struggle isn't just with the Blanks trying to capture himself and his friends, but with his own set of regrets and demons over a life ill-spent.
But the depth doesn't end there. Each of the gang have their own set of baggage from their school days they have yet to deal with. For Peter (Eddie Marsen) it's the emotional scars of being bullied. For Steven (Paddy Considine) it's his rivalry with Gary in general, and with their affection for Oliver's sister Sam (Rosamund Pike). OK, I can't think of Oliver's baggage, unless it has something to do with picking an unfortunate time to go to the bathroom. Andy (Nick Frost) has the biggest issue, having given up alcohol after a wreck left him near death and arrested, while Gary wandered off and escaped punishment. The betrayal and pain he portrays masks the fact that the two were clearly close at one point, but the booze and drugs and bullcrap got in the way.
In the end the film is about letting go of that baggage and being comfortable with who you are. It's in some respect about an alcoholic coming to terms with their mistakes and making a conscious effort to turn their life around. It's also about the apocalyptic collapse of our international communications network, and the aftermath of that.
The end of the film is something that could be pretty divisive. Either you buy into it, or you don't. For me, I had a big dumb smile on my face the entire time. The sheer inanity of this drunk asshole arguing with a supreme alien being is just not something you see every day. Personally, I'd probably like someone a bit less drunk (and a bit more diplomatic) making these arguments. However, in the end, Gary King of the Humans (of which there is more than one, despite what he fucking said), sums it up quite well both the beautiful, sometimes inaccurate, and sometimes frustrating bottom line for our uncivilized little planet:
"We are the human race, and we don't like being told what to do."
* I finally saw it a couple years ago. I liked it, but am certainly a bigger fan of his later films
** No relation
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