The World’s End Featurette Centers On The Film’s Action and Heart
This article is more than 2 years old
This August we will see the end of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy with the release of The World’s End. A very loose series of films from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright has grown throughout the last nine years since the release of Shaun of the Dead in 2004. The film series is connected through its themes and genre tropes rather than narratively like in a traditional trilogy such as Back To The Future or Star Wars. Although the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy isn’t traditional, it’s still just as satisfying and entertaining, especially if you’re a genre fan. Focus Features recently released a featurette highlighting The World’s End’s connection to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz and why Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost had more fun making the new science fiction genre film than any other film in the trilogy.
First and foremost, The World’s End is fantastic. I watched the film last week and it’s everything you’d want in an Edgar Wright movie starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The World’s End is really funny, witty, and, surprisingly touching, as it concludes the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy. The featurette above highlights the theme of returning home on a quest, which plays heavily in The World’s End’s premise. The idea of growing up and putting childish things aside is at the center of the film, which also makes it the most mature of the trilogy.
What separates The World’s End from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz is the action, namely the fight sequences. It appears Edgar Wright learned a thing or two while making Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World because the action in that film can really be felt in The World’s End, in terms of fighting style and hand-to-hand combat. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and The World’s End are really similar in that respect. Nick Frost’s “Pink Hulk” is great in the film and is actually one of its highlights.
There’s a real sense of comradery in The World’s End that isn’t so apparent in Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. You can get a real sense of the five characters going on a quest in the film. Edgar Wright said that one of the influences of The World’s End is the King Arthur myth, which can really be felt in the movie. Just take a look at the character’s names Nick Frost as Andrew Knightley, Paddy Considine as Steven Prince, Martin Freeman as Oliver Chamberlain, Eddie Marsan as Peter Page, and Simon Pegg as Gary King.
Smartly, The World’s End is about more than re-creating The Golden Mile pub-crawl and the alien invasion storyline, it really is about growing up and dealing with your past life failures. It’s really refreshing to watch a smaller movie like The World’s End in the current climate of summer blockbusters such as Man of Steel, Pacific Rim, and Star Trek Into Darkness. When Simon Pegg described the film as “a much bigger proposition than the other two films,” he wasn’t kidding.
The World’s End follows Gary King (Simon Pegg), a 40-year-old man-child who returns to his hometown with his childhood friends to re-create the legendary pub-crawl from their youth called “The Golden Mile.” As Gary forces his friends to re-create the past, they soon realize that the quiet town where they all grew up has changed, as killer alien robots plan to assimilate all of Newton Haven.
The World’s End will hit theaters everywhere on August 23.
the
