Plot
Decades after they attempted an all night 12 site “pub crawl” – the once popular and now directionless Gary King talks his four friends; Andy, Oliver, Steven and Peter into attempting one more time.
They reluctantly all agree, and head back to their old home town, however on the night they discover that their town has changed… and is very different from how it used to be.
Direction
Directed by Edgar Wright, it has his similar ‘feel’ that his other Cornetto films have, with close up shots of the obscure – his love of music with a fun soundtrack is also present.
There are some solid action sequences with brilliant choreography – such as the many fight sequences with the guys and the robots
Cast
A stacked cast of British royalty, as well as Wright regulars.
Simon Pegg plays Gary King.
Martin Freeman plays Oliver/Ollie.
Eddie Marsan plays Peter, who is still struggling with the bullying he received in the past.
Paddy Considine plays Steven.
Nick Frost plays Andy, who is now a water drinking lawyer, refusing to drink at first due to a devastating accident in the past.
Rosamund Pike plays Sam, who is also Oliver’s younger sister, and Gary’s love interest from his youth, who most of the gang still lust over – even 20 years later (I’ve been out of school a little longer than that, and couldn’t tell you some of the girls I went to school with’s names!)
Michael Smiley plays Reverend Green. I’ve liked his work since he was in Luther (poor Benny).
Pierce Brosnan plays Mr Shepherd, the boys teacher from school. I felt as if this was a ‘just because’ casting, because they had Timothy Dalton in Hot Fuzz. He is completely wasted, and appears in roughly two scenes, and really adds little to the overall plot.
David Bradley who has appeared in other Cornetto films, has a fun role as one of the town drunks- who has protected himself from being taken over by the robot outbreak.
Breakdown
Starting with the usual opening monologue to let the audience know who the characters are, we are introduced to the protagonist Gary – who clearly peaked in high school. Now approaching 40 – he has lost touch with his old school friends, and still lives in the past, refusing to grow up. I didn’t quite buy Pegg in this role, and its the first time within any of his performances, especially the Cornetto films that I felt this way.
We are reintroduced to Gary’s old crew, Oliver (who is now a real estate agent), Andy (who is now on the wagon and a corporate lawyer), Steven – who is now a big wig in construction, and Peter who works for his father’s car yard. They have all grown up, and living ‘adult lives’. I liked what they all brought to the film, and each character feels like a real person. I’ve always liked how Wright writes (no pun intended) his characters.
We learn through a series of conversations, that there was an ‘accident’ involving Andy and Gary in the past that has caused them tension. The revelation about this, which should have been much more emotional – doesn’t come across as emotional as it should have. It is marred by Gary not being as redeemable a protagonist as he could have been. This is caused by his disregard of his friends, and even lying about the death of his mother.
The gang’s ‘standing up to the protagonist who is trying to be good’ happens too early in the film, and should have been held back at least another 20-30 minutes of screen time.
I found this to be the weakest in the “Cornetto Trilogy” as I just didn’t love the ending. I found the ‘robot outbreak’ written strangely – as some of the townsfolk know about it, and are okay with it? And others, like Bradley’s Basil isn’t and is trying to keep himself safe from them taking his DNA.
I really didn’t buy that a few drunk guys were able to talk an omniscient being into abandoning a decades long plan… in one night… and then doom humanity to an apocalyptic wasteland!
Overall
By no means a terrible film, it has plenty of laugh out loud moments, but ultimately I feel it is let down by the way Gary is written. I didn’t really find him to be a redeemable character, and I didn’t buy that he was the one to be able to ‘save humanity (and then condemn us to an apocalyptic wasteland… thanks Gary). Some wasted talent, with Brosnan put in a nothing role, other than having another James Bond in one of the films…
3/5
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