The Golden Mile
8.25 out of 10 | Movie or DVD
Rated: R Sexual references and pervasive language
Release Date: August 23, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes
Release Date: August 23, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 49 minutes
Director: Edgar Wright
Writers: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan
Writers: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan
SYNOPSIS: Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind's only hope for survival.
REVIEW: Edgar Wright has made a name for himself with brilliant and off-beat genre comedies, starting with the zombie/romantic/comedy he wrote with star Simon Pegg - Shaun of the Dead. Following that, Wright, Pegg and actor Nick Frost returned with the buddy cop flick Hot Fuzz. Now, the trio returns with the last bookend of their film trilogy with the flick The World's End.
Gary King (Simon Pegg, Paul) ruled the town of Newton Haven as a young man. On the last day of his high school career, Gary decides to take his friends on the local pub crawl. Steve Prince (Paddy Considine, The Bourne Ultimatum), Peter Page (Eddie Marsan, Jack the Giant Slayer), Oliver Chamberlain (Martin Freeman, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) and Andy Knightley (Nick Frost, Paul) all join Gary, making the night the best of Gary's life. Flash forward twenty years and Gary tires of regaling that night, deciding to get all of his old friends back together to finish the pub crawl at The World's End instead of three bars short during the attempt in the summer of 1990. But this time around, the quintet is surprised at how different the town, ultimately making the discovery that some of the towns citizens have been replaced by robots versions. Desperate to survive, Gary comes up with the plan to continue with the Golden Mile to finish the pub crawl at The Worlds End - even if it the last thing he and his friends do.
Gary King's Newton Haven Golden Mile Pub Crawl List
The World's End… The elusive holy grail that Gary King is searching for. Questing after the pub as if he was King Arthur of Camelot. While his friends have found their footing in life with jobs, families and homes, Gary lives his life of freedom, imprisoned by the fact that his best days are most likely behind them. While the group's fearless leader when they were younger, the reality of modern day is too hard on Gary. His friends still join him, though, in spite of their better judgment.
What starts off as an effort to recapture ones youth turns into a cross between The Stepford Wives, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Village of the Damned. To Gary it is obvious why nobody remembers the 'King', because they are all robot versions of the people he remembers. Once the melee ensues between human and nonhuman, Jerry and his drunken band of friends soldier on to finish the pub crawl and survive the night intact.
Taking a serious look at yet a third genre, Edgar Wright and Simon Peg look at a small town turn alien proving ground at a different level. Snarky and witty as Simon is want to do, The World's End doesn't treat itself like a comedy. Instead it takes a serious note on the story, while maintaining an air of humor with Simon at its center. Like Shaun of the Dead before it, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg do not try to make their efforts slapstick for the sake of it. They just take a different slant and keep all of the characters on the straight and narrow.
What makes The World's End so fun is the over-the-top, but 'dim' performance of Simon Pegg as Gary King. We all know individuals from our adolescence whose life peaked in high school. Gary is somebody to be pitied and felt sorry for, while still being charming enough to get old friends to along with his insane schemes. Gary King may be trying to find his elusive past, but his friends are also trying to recapture something lost as well.
Edgar Wright has come along way from Shaun of the Dead, more wise and seasoned in his film making and putting together a solid cinematic experience. The story and its progress are chaotic and "all over the place "but for me that just works in it's favor. Admittedly I am a Simon Pegg fan through and through, so I enjoy how he tackles every roll with a different persona but the same timing and wit.
Simon Pegg's merry band of misfits consists of straight laced businessmen needing a night out. Nick Frost returns in a role contrary to the stoner freeloader we expect. Martin Freeman's Oliver has a career but has forgotten how to let loose. Eddie Marsan's Pete, settles into a subservient role to his father at work and his wife and kids at home, shaped by a childhood filled with bullying and cowardice. Paddy Considine's Steve also holds a long standing issues, resenting Gary for his freewheeling life that he thought he deserved. Even though he follows Gary back to their hometown, Steve is quick to point out the failures of their youth.
The World's End is a little dodgy and a little drawn out in spots, but classic in terms of expectations of what Wright, Pegg, and Frost are known for. If you are an existing fan, then you will get a kick out of this flick. If not a fan of British styled sci-fi dramedies, then maybe you'll want to skip this pub crawl.
Gary King's Newton Haven Golden Mile Pub Crawl List
- The First Post
- The Old Familiar
- The Famous Cock
- The Crossed Hands
- The Good Companions
- The Trusty Servant
- The Two-Headed Dog
- The Mermaid
- The Beehive
- The King's Head
- The Hole in the Wall
- The World's End
The World's End… The elusive holy grail that Gary King is searching for. Questing after the pub as if he was King Arthur of Camelot. While his friends have found their footing in life with jobs, families and homes, Gary lives his life of freedom, imprisoned by the fact that his best days are most likely behind them. While the group's fearless leader when they were younger, the reality of modern day is too hard on Gary. His friends still join him, though, in spite of their better judgment.
What starts off as an effort to recapture ones youth turns into a cross between The Stepford Wives, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Village of the Damned. To Gary it is obvious why nobody remembers the 'King', because they are all robot versions of the people he remembers. Once the melee ensues between human and nonhuman, Jerry and his drunken band of friends soldier on to finish the pub crawl and survive the night intact.
Taking a serious look at yet a third genre, Edgar Wright and Simon Peg look at a small town turn alien proving ground at a different level. Snarky and witty as Simon is want to do, The World's End doesn't treat itself like a comedy. Instead it takes a serious note on the story, while maintaining an air of humor with Simon at its center. Like Shaun of the Dead before it, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg do not try to make their efforts slapstick for the sake of it. They just take a different slant and keep all of the characters on the straight and narrow.
What makes The World's End so fun is the over-the-top, but 'dim' performance of Simon Pegg as Gary King. We all know individuals from our adolescence whose life peaked in high school. Gary is somebody to be pitied and felt sorry for, while still being charming enough to get old friends to along with his insane schemes. Gary King may be trying to find his elusive past, but his friends are also trying to recapture something lost as well.
Edgar Wright has come along way from Shaun of the Dead, more wise and seasoned in his film making and putting together a solid cinematic experience. The story and its progress are chaotic and "all over the place "but for me that just works in it's favor. Admittedly I am a Simon Pegg fan through and through, so I enjoy how he tackles every roll with a different persona but the same timing and wit.
Simon Pegg's merry band of misfits consists of straight laced businessmen needing a night out. Nick Frost returns in a role contrary to the stoner freeloader we expect. Martin Freeman's Oliver has a career but has forgotten how to let loose. Eddie Marsan's Pete, settles into a subservient role to his father at work and his wife and kids at home, shaped by a childhood filled with bullying and cowardice. Paddy Considine's Steve also holds a long standing issues, resenting Gary for his freewheeling life that he thought he deserved. Even though he follows Gary back to their hometown, Steve is quick to point out the failures of their youth.
The World's End is a little dodgy and a little drawn out in spots, but classic in terms of expectations of what Wright, Pegg, and Frost are known for. If you are an existing fan, then you will get a kick out of this flick. If not a fan of British styled sci-fi dramedies, then maybe you'll want to skip this pub crawl.
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