Since breaking out with Spaced back in 1999 (wow, that long ago?), the trio of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost has cornered a neat little niche documenting the lives of pop-culture nerds in various states of stasis, arrested development and ongoing adolescence.
With their latest outing, The World's End, the three collaborators explore this territory with a slightly more mature approach in mind, looking at some of the more toxic aspects of nostalgia addiction. Of course, the guys behind Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz being who they are, they do so while throwing in an invasion of Earth by a benevolently sinister force.
This takeover of the tiny English town of Newton Haven really cramps the grand plan of Pegg's Gary to relive the glory days of himself and his four best high school friends (played by Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine and a scene-stealing Eddie Marsan) by re-enacting an epic pub crawl. Reluctantly drawn into Gary's quest, the mates soon twig that something is NQR in the old haunts and find themselves facing off against an unpredictable enemy... as well as the issues of the past.
Wright's antic energy, crackerjack timing and terrific eye for detail remain as sharp as ever, and the ideas about moving on and cutting ties are expressed in ways often incisive but occasionally facile. Fans of the trio's previous efforts will dig it, certainly, but The World's End does indicate that it's time for them to try their hand at something new. One gets the feeling they may think that as well.
In cinemas Thursday 1 August.
