Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's "Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy" was jokingly named after Kieslowski's Three Colors Trilogy, cheekily comparing their pop culture parodies to art films that examine key facets of human nature. Yet, over the course of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End, it feels as though the Wright-Pegg-Frost trio has commented almost as much on human nature (and humanity's connection to pop culture) while building some of the best comedies of all time. Speaking of time, some of it has certainly passed since Shaun of the Dead, allowing Wright and Pegg to use slightly older (but not grown up) characters. The World's End finds Gary King (Pegg), fantasizing about getting his old band of friends back together to do a pub crawl that they couldn't finish as teens. His friends - including Andy (Nick Frost) - protest vehemently before falling prey to Gary's old charm/taking pity on him.
The Cornetto films display a sense of humor that's multilayered and allows for enjoyment during the first or hundredth viewing. There's wonderful physical comedy (a barfight scene where Gary tries to hold onto a glass stands out as particularly brilliant). There are loads of puns and sight gags. There are great cultural reference jokes that ground the characters in our world as extraterrestrials conspire to remove them from it (making for a great parody of all the end-of-the-world movies that keep popping up). There are running gags that pay off well, from the town's roundabout to Gary's obsession with finishing the pub crawl. Most importantly, the jokes have a larger meaning and importance to the characters. The alien's standardization plot serves to comment on "Starbuckization" of modern society and an idea of adulthood that promises success and assimilation into something larger, but also the loss of some youthful independence. When they're escaping the town, they note that they're fine with dying just an inch outside of its limits. It's all deeply funny stuff, grounded in a significance to the characters.
Side Notes
I felt that the sincere use of "humanity's strength is its willingness to do stupid things" was a bit cliche, but it worked relatively well with Gary and Andy's story.
Not only is Frost a solid actor, but his cheerful abandonment of an uptight character reveals what a comedic secret weapon he can be. See: Above Picture.
Crew & Cast
Directed by Edgar Wright
Written by Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Adventures of Tintin) & Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, Paul, Run Fatboy Run)
Cast
Simon Pegg - Gary King
Nick Frost - Andy Knightley
Rosamund Pike - Sam Chamberlain
Paddy Considine - Steven Prince
Martin Freeman - Oliver "O-Man" Chamberlain
Eddie Marsan - Peter Page
David Bradley - Basil
Pierce Brosnan - Guy Shepherd
Bill Nighy - The Network