THE third (and reportedly final) film from comedy duo Nick Frost and Simon Pegg has manifested with a sci-fi twist on the same apocalyptic theme as the previous two.

Filmed on location down the road in Letchworth, The World’s End centres on five friends, all since grown up and moved on, who reunite in an attempt to complete the Golden Mile, a ten-stop pub crawl around their sleepy home town.

In the twenty years since they’ve seen each other, Gary (Pegg) has failed to settle into adult life as his successful school friends have, clinging desperately to the ideal of the ‘perfect’ night they all enjoyed the first time they attempted the Golden Mile and, ludicrously, insists on continuing their beer-soaked mission even after it’s apparent they’re under siege and may be humanity’s only chance of survival.

The story line is almost identical to Hot Fuzz, with a tiny town taken over by a sinister force and Frost and Pegg making suitably slapstick attempts at making it through the night.

The World’s End doesn’t half measure up to Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz though, with the twist coming as a shock but the main premise failing to hold interest for an entire film.

The script between the five friends is still hilarious in parts and Pegg’s character is deeply, affectingly desperate, it’s just a shame all the ropey sci-fi drowns them out most of the time.

Ashley Whittaker

2/5 stars