Just in time for New Year’s Eve, I watched The World’s End, the latest movie from Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. Thankfully, I somehow managed to avoid the plot twist that the movie hinges upon. To protect anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet and has also been lucky enough to not be spoiled, I won’t spoil it here in this review.

The basic, pre-twist premise of The World’s End is that Simon Pegg’s character, Gary King, has a mission. He wants to reunite his high school friends to reenact their epic pub crawl through town from their teenage years, a pub crawl that they never technically finished. That night was the best night of Gary’s life. Gary, it should be pointed out, is that friend of yours from high school (or college) who never changed…and not necessarily in a good way. The eternal pan, Gary is now nearing middle age, but dressing exactly the same as he did in high school. He’s like a British Al Bundy, but instead of throwing four touchdowns in one game, Gary’s crowning achievement is that he almost drank at every bar in town one night.

Gary is that friend.

Gary’s friends have all moved on from their home town, and from Gary, but in a Machivellian scheme, Gary gets the gang back together. If Gary put the effort he put into organizing this pub crawl to making positive changes in his own life, he probably would be in a much better place. But that’s neither here nor there.

I’m glad I watched The World’s End before the end of 2013, because this will definitely be in my Top 5 movies of the year. It is such a perfect mix of action and comedy. The special effects are great. ‘There was definitely a budget jump with this movie over Hot Fuzz. But back to the action and comedy combo for a second. There is a scene where The People’s Elbow gets used a fight. I almost fell out of my chair laughing.

If you liked This is the End, another hilariously funny movie from 2013, I think you will also like The World’s End. The World’s End almost seems like the British answer to This is the End. It’s almost funny how similarly they are named and that they were released around the same time.

I’ve seen Wright, Pegg and Frost’s other two movies, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. If I had to rank them, I’d rank them Shaun of the Dead, The World’s End and Hot Fuzz. But really, they’re all great, and The World’s End keeps the winning streak going for these three.