The Worlds End!!!!

The Worlds End.

The final film in what is being described as the "three flavours cornetto trilogy", first their was Shaun of the Dead (Strawberry) then Hot Fuzz (Classico) and now we have The World's End (Mint). Obviously I have to admit I LOVED Strawberry and Vanilla, I mean Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz so I had high expectations going into this film and it didn't disappoint. 

Starting off back in time twenty or so years we see the group of lads all looking youthful and ready to take on the world but they must first try and do the Golden Mile of pubs. Basically to visit 12 pubs and drink 12 pints in their hometown of Newton Haven and live to tell the tale. As the boys try to do the Golden Mile they unfortunately fail and all eventually leave their hometown to start their own lives away from Newton Haven. 

Soon enough the cool one of the group Gary King (Simon Pegg) decides to reunite the gang, return to Newton Haven and try and complete the Golden Mile. But he has some work to do as most of the group have moved on, Oliver "O-Man" (Martin Freeman) is an estate agent, Steven (Paddy Considine) is a construction business owner, Peter (Eddie Marsan) is a father of two and Andrew (Nick Frost) is a high flying lawyer. But with some wise words and encouragement the group agree to go on the pub crawl and all end up back in their hometown in Gary's old classic car just like years earlier.

As the boys make their way around the pubs they soon realise that things aren't what they used to be. As Gary gets in a fight with a teen in the toilets in soon turns into a 5 V 5 fight in which they end up with blue ink on their hands. As Oliver's sister Sam (Rosamund Pike) turns up she soon joins in the boys fun and the conspiracy theories soon fly around trying to work out what was going on and what has changed in Newton Haven. 

As the alien robots are soon after the group of lads the boys try to survive Gary is determined to make it to the World's End and finally finish something in his life.

This film has everything that we loved from the first two films, it has laughs, action, great characters and a great storyline. The used of extras is great as well as we see some of the UK's best sitcom actors are in the film and also extras from the previous films which is good to see. Considering the film has a low budget in turns of films out at the moment the CGI effects are really impressive and bring the action during the film. The friendship between the friends is sweet and they reminisce to bring the characters that bit more depth which was needed.

Of course not every film is perfect as I felt the whole story of how Gary became obsessed with doing  the Golden Mile was not truly addressed, seeing his bandaged arms wasn't enough for me I needed to know why. The ending was something a little weak as the Alien race argues with Gary, Andrew and Steven the Aliens decide to just leave Earth without a hesitation which was a bit of a WTF moment. 

And of course the mint flavoured cornetto makes an appearance close to the end, so do we know of a fourth cornetto flavour and if so will we see it feature in another Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost film?!.

9/10.

Star Trek: Into Darkness!!!!

     Star Trek: Into Darkness. 

Second outing for JJ Abrams Star Trek franchise and it is a non stop action fest of a film, obviously this is a good thing. As you first see two hooded people running away on an alien red looking planet, you suddenly hear the voices of James T Kirk (Chris Pine) and Bones (Karl Urban) as they run away from a white faced, yellow hooded clan of people. Jumping off a massive cliff into the blue waters to safety you next see Spock (Zachary Quinto) being dropped into a erupting volcano hoping to freeze the volcano and save a whole planet and civilisation. With a near miss death and the fast action paced introduction Star Trek: Into Darkness is under-way and at warp speed. 

As a massive explosion blows a whole government building to pieces Star Fleet must convene to assess what to do next. As the perpetrator is named as John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch) Kirk is authorised to go on a manhunt to take down Harrison and avenge the deaths of the innocent people killed from the bombing. Soon enough the crew is in full force and on the tail of John Harrison, as the crew are split up and then later on re grouped with new additions Carol (Alice Eve) the crew battle not only with alien races but with their inner feelings and judgement as well. 

Without giving too much away the crew and Kirk himself finds out the true intent and identity of the now wanted man John Harrison. With the "bromance" between Kirk and Spock growing by the minute they work  and help each other out to make the right decision for the crew and the greater good. Indeed the relationship between all the crew members are tested and as new members join the crew they must pull and work together to work efficently.

With warp speed ship chases, battles above the streets of a city, starships crashlanding, fast pilot chases and plenty of photon torpedo's fired their is plenty of non-stop action to be gazed at. The storyline of the film is a nice one and the twist or for some Trekkie fans the realisation of one characters true identity is a clever little addition. With nods to old style quotes from the past Trek world Abram's has worked to keep the old ways in tact but give it a revamp and a boost for new fans as well. 

Obviously the only downfall I can see is that the film does indeed go along at warp speed (pardon the pun). It's non-stop action, right from the get go you see members of the crew running away and to it's credit it keeps people hooked and watching everything on screen. The cast is of course great, Pine and Quinto's relationship on screen blossoms and they both learn valuable lessons from each other even though their quite the opposite. The addition of Alice Eve is nice and she plays a nice little addition to the growing family of crew members. Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison is just perfect casting in my opinion as he just plays a sinister character so well and anything he says sounds cold, calculated and evil. 

What could have been a terrible follow up has turned out to be a great addition to the film franchise. With Abrams also stepping up to the podium to direct the next Star Wars film it's safe to say if he carries on doing the right thing like he's done with this Star Trek movie sci-fi fans around the world will be very happy, including myself. 

8/10.