Film Review: World's End (Some Spoilers)
Oh World’s End left me dissatisfied and annoyed.
I’m a fan of the two prior films.. and I was very much looking forward to this one, despite not seeing any trailers, or reading any reviews..
I had been told that It wasn’t like their other films.. That it was different, but good, and crucially I was told it was not a comedy.
That was it, the extent of my pre-credits knowledge.
Which put me in a very interesting situation. I had NO idea what to expect (as I had been told it wasn’t like the other two films – which I love, note: I also like Paul & Scott Pilgrim).
And for the first 30-40 mins I was fascinated and really quite excited about the film.
Here it was, finally.
A darkly comic look at childhood friendship, growing up, refusing to grow up, mental health, the power one person still holds over a group despite decades of no contact, the impact of childhood bullying, even when you are in your forties.. The downside to group therapy and how sometimes (quite often) it fails the participants. About being king of the world at 18, and then never quite hitting that point again.
All of this was masterfully hinted at in the first 40 mins..
It was a proper grownup (if black) discussion on things that matter but never really get spoken about.
And then..
Aliens..
Sweet Jesus..The Aliens, I almost wept.
It was like a giant hammer of a metaphor for how society deals with mental health.. It really really really annoyed me, because the scene in which the aliens get introduced could have been epic. Pegg's character struggling to place himself in a world where he's no longer king. The new King of the town just ignoring him. It was interesting and I wanted to know how it would play out and how Gary would come to terms with his past.
But we got Aliens.
Instead of getting stuck in to dealing with the issues raised in the first bit we get distracted by fucking aliens.
Let’s just ignore all the ramifications of our life choices and kill things.
Every time the characters got close to a real conversation about real issues...
Aliens.
Fucking Aliens.
Oh yeah, and then there was the way they just ignored.. no, not ignored, celebrated how alcohol is used to mask emotions..
Let’s drown our f*cking lives away and avoid the giant elephant of feeling in the room.
GAH!
And the end.. THE END.. (shoot me now)
*spoiler*
Our choice is between childish rebellious manchild or autonomous robot.
That’s it humanity. If you don’t choose freedom without responsibility then you, my dear, are a robot.
Freedom (without responsibility) and alcohol.. that’s what’s important..
Oh I wish they’d made the other film..
The one without aliens..