By HALEY BOND
Want to watch a movie full of gore, violence, and intense zombie horror? Too bad, we’re going to talk about five old men reuniting for an epic pub crawl they failed to do in high school. Director Edward Wright turns a movie full of drunks into a threat towards humanity, testing the bonds of friendship. Gary King, played by Simon Pegg, is portrayed as a beat down alcoholic trapped in his old scandalous ways. His head stuck as a teenager, he tracks down his four estranged friends to complete the “Golden Mile,” a line of 12 pubs in their suburban U.K. hometown, Newton Haven. Skeptical and wary of abandoning their adult responsibilities to try and complete a high school dream, they all join together as friends once again to try and reach the Worlds End, the last pub of the golden mile. Little did they know, stumbling drunk through the streets, that they are the earth’s last hope for survival.
The movie starts out in 40 year old Gary King’s mind, replaying his teenage dream, the first attempt of the Golden Mile proved to be a fail with less and less of their group lurching towards the last pint. As Gary tracks down his old companions, convincing them to put their successful family lives on hold, proved to be a challenge, but overpowering obligation to do so caught all four of them waiting at the bus stop in Newton Haven for flaky Gary to arrive. Former best friend Andy Knightly, refuses to drink with the group until after a bathroom stall quarrel, Andy thinking of himself as superior over the rest of the boys. Fights and testing of friendship continue along the pub line as the characters are forced to trust each other to a new extent.
The town of Newton Haven is a quiet and unusual town after their return. Citizens are not speaking and normal social activities are absent, the town was in dull shades of monotony. Gary and Andy’s friendship is the main theme of the film, as well as “Shaun of the Dead,” Pegg and Frost are the two main characters fighting through the Apocalypse together. The movie “The Worlds End” revolves around the theme of friendship, targeting mostly the two main characters. Gary and Andy are forced apart throughout the movie due to each other’s overruling stubbornness, yet in the end they are side by side defending humanity. Gary drunkenly exclaimed, “We are the human race and we don’t like being told what to do!”
The film uses descriptive backgrounds and visual character emotions to creatively give each one a very specific personality. Pegg”s character is backed with a leather trechcoat and overgrown, ragged black hair, assisted with a sailor’s tongue and classic 80’s metal. Frost’s however was a successful business owner, suit and tie. The movie also blends the personalities well with music and slight personality and wardrobe change as the fight gets more intense. The dark filter mixed with the eerie soundtrack alerts the movie having a hidden plot twist, as the harmless night together turns into a struggle for survival.
Although you’ll be laughing, on the edge of your seat and trying to cope with the ridiculousness, and torn by people’s struggle, you can’t forget about poor Gary and Andy! Even though you see the war being fought by five drunken men, there are the tight bonds of friendship that hold them together… Oh, and stubbornness.