Dog Movie Reviews: “The World’s End”

The Shaun Of The Dead team is back – but what did our movie-loving dogs think of it?

Nick Leftley

Aug 23, 2013

Out August 23, Rated R

Photos Courtesy of Focus Features

Holly’s take:

“If there’s a movie that’s destined to become a potentially lethal drinking game, it’s this one (as a side note, almost all dog drinking games are lethal, because we drink out of dirty toilets and stagnant ponds full of old frogspawn. It’s kind of a running joke among dogs that you humans are dumb enough to let us lick your faces). This is the latest one from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright – the guys who made Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz – and as you’d expect, it’s hilarious, it’s action packed, and it’s got some of the most enjoyably silly violence you’ll see on the screen all year. The plot follows loser Gary King (Simon Pegg, playing against type as an annoying dick), who, having achieved nothing in his adult life, wants to get his childhood friends together to take another crack at “The Golden Mile,” a series of 12 pubs that they never quite managed to complete as teenagers. All of which is really funny, but it’s the second half where things really get going, as it turns out that their small hometown has been overrun with alien robots, posing as humans. The last hour sees fight after ludicrous fight, some awesomely foul-mouthed banter, and a hell of a lot of drinking. The fights really are great – there’s one in particular that takes place in a pub toilet, and if it was really all shot in one take, as it appears to have been, then it’s a fucking masterpiece of fight chorography. Also: Who the hell knew that Nick Frost could deliver such a wicked chokeslam?”

Dexter’s take:

“This was great! Fans of the so-called Cornetto Trilogy are going to feel right at home straight away – the direction is slick, the jokes come thick and fast, the performances are uniformly great, and the whole thing has a ton of heart. Overall, it’s much closer in tone to Shaun Of The Dead than the endlessly referential Hot Fuzz, although I will say, it’s never quite as engaging as Shaun. As funny as their earlier zombie flick was, it still worked as a traditional zombie movie, complete with genuine moments of emotion and horrifying kills. The World’s End is a flat out comedy, so even though the alien invasion is enjoyable, the jokes feel more important than the plot (the epilogue, in particular, felt weirdly out of place and unnecessary). The good news is, there’s a lot of jokes – when I saw this, the audience laughed loudly the whole way through. It definitely holds up to repeat viewings, too – there are Easter eggs aplenty (watch how the names of the pubs always relate to what happens inside), and a lot of familiar faces from their earlier films and, especially, their classic TV show, Spaced. Paw on heart, I’d be happy to go on watching these guys’ films for a long as they keep making them. Gentlemen, can I suggest for the next one, a full-blown fantasy movie? I bet you could make that work with a Lemon Cornetto.”

Billie’s take:

“OH HOLY FUCK YOU GUYS, I AM SHITFACED! I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS! I REALLY HAVE TO STOP SHITTING ON MY OWN FACE.”