The World’s End – so bad it hurts

Somebody really should have killed this before it went anywhere close to production. The World’s End is a film that just does not work. An intriguing concept, but the first draft of the script should have been enough to show that the concept was not going to translate to a fully fleshed out film. The World’s End is made by a talented team who proved themselves worthy of our cinemas with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but the trust has been lost with this diabolical two hours of cinema.

Gary King (Simon Pegg) organises a reunion pub crawl with four of his unenthusiastic childhood friends in a desperate attempt to recapture his youth. Hitting 12 pubs over one night in the quiet town of Newton Haven the group soon become aware of changes in the town, from the chain takeover of the pubs to a possible alien invasion.

Pegg at least is trying something different but Gary King isn’t a very likeable character, not very funny and selfish. His friends at least are somewhat likeable but before their characters can be developed the aliens appear, at which point the film stops being a film and just becomes an absolute mess. Characters we don’t care about get into situations we don’t believe, and not a single joke worth remembering.

Director Edgar Wright makes a decent action scene when the gang are attacked by youths in a pub bathroom, but it feels more like a show reel than having any context to this film. Avoid avoid avoid.

1 out of 5