The World's End - Loaded

Well why not start with a surprisingly controversial statement about this film; This is not only my favourite Edgar Wright film but one of my favourite films ever made and this review was a daunting task because putting into words how much I love this film is near impossible. I have no idea why this film isn't considered as much of a classic as the rest of Wright's impressive catalogue but I genuinely think it is a basically faultless film, combining everything Wright does well whilst also showing maturity and tackling more ambitious and developed themes than the others in the Cornetto Trilogy. Wright does something incredibly impressive with 'The World's End' whilst 'Hot Fuzz' and 'Shaun of the Dead' are built around the genres they are invoking, here Wright is much more concerned with telling an original unique story that doesn't really revel in the sci-fi tropes. It is a film about reliving the golden days and this is where Wright leans on his meta-writing skills, in 2013 there was a lot of pressure on him to follow up on his two ridiculously loved films in The Cornetto Trilogy and everyone was excited to see what he would do with 'The World's End'. It is this trilogy's swan song and is a brave goodbye to the Cornetto Trilogy and I appreciate the confidence in making a film that pays tribute to what came before but still sticks to its own guns and tells a new captivating story."Ever had one of those nights that starts of like any other but ends up being the best night of your life?" opens the film and echoes throughout as Wright indulges in portraying that depressing feeling of relieving the past. There is a very different tone in this film to the others, it is still hilarious and full of brevity but at times it's sort of melancholy, desperate and has this underlying feeling of doom. Gary King is a really funny character, to begin with, but Wright doesn't hold back on pointing out his faults to a depressing level and you don't really know how to feel about him. He places you in this peculiar area by having the protagonist's main motivation being a sad and desperate motivation but you still want to see him complete the Golden Mile. The incredible opening montage is so well stylised and a brilliant introduction to the film that as an audience we understand where Gary is coming from but as the film progresses the cracks start appearing and the final emotional reveal hits you in the stomach due to us finally realising that this isn't healthy for Gary. I really like how this kind of hokey film about killer robots uses this really interesting narrative device for its protagonist and makes the film have much more of an emotional character based drive to it. The 'alien apocalypse' side of the film feels like a subplot in many ways, the focus is always on Gary and his obsession with the past as it comes up against him. The 'blanks' themselves are how we perceive these memories of the golden days, they don't have the imperfections of experience that makes us human and that is a recurring important theme of the film. It's all about the beauty of how the human race is messy, complicated idiots and we reserve the right to be.This film gets a lot of flack from people that I feel take it for granted and it's almost like no matter what it was, it would be simply not as universally loved due to the pressure of 'Hot Fuzz' and 'Shaun of the Dead'. Yet Wright made a film about maturity, moving on and living in the past as a brilliant commentary on his own reputation and the film separates itself from the other two in a fantastic way. The biggest and most baffling criticism is how people say the film isn't as funny as the other two and I have no idea how people say that at all. The comedy is more ridiculous and more character-based, playing with logic more often and being a tad bit sillier which I honestly prefer. A film about a pub crawl gets more drunk in the filmmaking as it goes along, logic doesn't matter and the film revels in being a bit ridiculous and nonsensical. The first act uses Wright's more conventional comedy, using quick wit and repeated character traits that punctuate the script wonderfully, I could probably quote the entire first act verbatim because of the amount of memorable and hilarious lines. But then the film's comedy comes from the group of drunk idiots stuck in the middle of an alien invasion and it is wonderful. I can see why people don't quite click with it as it feels a bit disorientating but it is all intentional and makes the alien invasion feel relatable and much more realised. The third act confrontation with The Network plays almost like a pantomime and it has me in tears of laughter every time.I love how both Pegg and Frost get to almost switch their pre-determined roles and get to play out of their types. Pegg as Gary King is a silly, messy and unreliable idiot which he obviously adores playing, he also manages to consistently make the audience laugh whilst showing the vulnerability and damaged spirit of an addict underneath. The third act really proves Pegg as a dramatic actor, the reveal of his self-harm and therapy attempts is one of the best scenes in the film (" It's all I've got!" is a beautiful line) and I commend Wright for not pulling his punches with this character. Nick Frost is excellent as the reformed Andy Knightly, his damaged past makes him an excellent foil to Gary and the two work off each other excellently, as Andy seems to be the only person who wants to help turn Gary's life around. Paddy Considine as Steven Prince, Martin Freeman as Oliver Chamberlain and Eddie Marsan as Peter Paige fill out the rest of the Musketeers wonderfully, getting to really flex their comedic talents (Marsan is a scene-stealer) yet portraying dysfunctional middle-aged men wonderfully. Rosamund Pike as Sam is a brilliant addition as a romantic interest, she plays well against Pegg and her emotional arc is one of the most surprisingly well-done aspects of the film. Like all Wright films, the supporting cast is ridiculously stellar, Reece Shearsmith, Mark Heap, Pierce Brosnan, Michael Smiley, David Bradley and Bill Nighy all provide brilliant little cameos.Like all of Wright's films it operates on another level of attention to detail and here are some quick little things that make me appreciate this film even more. The opening montage is the plot of the film down to a tee, every line of dialogue comes back into play. The significance of each pub name is wonderful and are all plot-relevant which is just a nice touch that isn't essential but proves the labour of love. All the main characters have Royal last name connotations (King, Knightly, Chamberlin, Paige and Prince) which ties into the constant references to the Musketeers, King Arthur and other historical fantasies leading up to the fact the destruction of the Network essentially takes them back to the 'middle ages'. The robot-shadowing is ridiculous once you catch it, my personal favourite being Andy's response to their phones having no signal: "must be the Network". And this is also my favourite editing in a Wright film, so many sequences are pinpoint perfect in their construction but especially the action scenes. He paid a lot of attention and consideration to how each character would fight and I would argue they are more impressive than the 'Hot Fuzz' action scenes due to how they wind in comedy and character seamlessly. And it has one of the best movie soundtracks of all time that actually blends into the plot and character, 'Loaded' by Primal Scream is the film's thematic stance that is consistently referenced and relevant whilst the rest of the diegetic soundtrack utilises nostalgia whilst maintaining the tone of each scene perfectly.I really love this film if you couldn't tell and I don't have anything bad to say about it. I understand the complaints when the film is placed in comparison to his previous work but weirdly this is such a step away from the other films in the cornetto trilogy that you can't compare them. It is so layered and ingenious with its meta-references that are so uniquely different from the other two, the film barely pays any attention to the sci-fi genre at all and focuses much more on its core set of characters. It is a film that benefits from being taken with a pinch of salt and I adore how it doesn't take itself seriously at all and is one of the most fun films out there. A perfect end to one of the greatest cinematic trilogies of all time and one hell of a film, I love you 'The World's End'.