The World’s End

Director: Edgar Wright

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, ­Eddie Marsan

***

Simon Pegg, his co-star Nick Frost and the writer-director Edgar Wright complete their trilogy of affectionate genre-movie fanboy spoofs with this fast-paced action comedy about a reunited gang of middle-aged friends returning to the sleepy English town of their youth. The World’s End is full of funny lines and solid performances, but it lacks the focus and freshness of Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz. The rambling, repetitive plot also fails to develop some potentially fascinating elements – including a town whose complacent human inhabitants are secretly delighted to be ruled by alien robots and an extraterrestrial plot to brainwash mankind using mobile phone networks. The final jarring lurch into post-apocalyptic science fiction almost feels like a different film. Fun in parts, this uneven romp ultimately proves less satisfying than its two excellent predecessors.

[ artslife@thenational.ae ]