The World's End (15)

If you listened to people at the moment, you could be forgiven for thinking the world is actually ending - the heat, this insufferable heat, which is baking down and cooking us all, must surely be the End Of Days.

It's not. Far from it. It's just summer (the thing we moan about not having most years).

The World's End is, in fact, a pub in Newton Haven - the focal point of the latest collaboration between Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright.

The film's set-up is simple - one man (Pegg's Gary King) wants to relive his youth by attempting the pub crawl he failed to finish when he was a teenager. To recreate the event fully, he needs to get his old gang back together, and in next-to-no-time we have Oliver (Martin Freeman), Andrew (Nick Frost), Peter (Eddie Marsan) and Steven (Paddy Considine) sitting on High Wycombe station wondering what the hell they're doing.

And then the real fun begins.

As with the first two parts of the 'Cornetto Trilogy', Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, there is a genre game being played here. In this case, we're in sci-fi mode as aliens take over a small town, and as with all the best sci-fi films, it's not really about that. It's about growing up, alienation, detachment, fear of the future... and aliens.

And because Wright and Pegg are involved, it's also about having a damn cool soundtrack.

One of the great things (and there are many) about The World's End is the pacing. What worked so well in Shaun Of The Dead (even if it wasn't true to the genre) was the fast cuts, something which didn't work quite so well in Hot Fuzz.

Here though, at The World's End, the film is more measured, slightly slower, and Wright's trademark rapid-fire editing has been toned down, meaning that when it is used it has greater impact. The slower pacing (and it's not snails pace by any means) is also in keeping with the classics of the genre, allowing time for drama and tension to build - which it does.

But it also allows for the laughs to be bigger and better. By giving the gags room to breathe, the funny is funnier - something that is helped enormously by the stellar cast. As well as the boys, we have Rosamund Pike and David Bradley both playing at the top of their game and adding to the heady mix of aliens, suburbia and beer.

And that's another great thing about The World's End. Not only is Pegg acting at the top of his game, but Nick Frost has moved into the spotlight more - stealing scenes in places and adding to the gravitas and drama in others. At the same time, his comic chops come into their own, particularly during an early toilet showdown with Pegg.

The key to all this is fun. The cast are clearly having a blast, and as a result the audience are having one too. From the many cameos to the asides to the big gags to the many, many fight scenes, the one thing that is constant is just how damn enjoyable the whole thing is.

Part of that is, as mentioned, down to the performances, but a big part is the writing. Here, Wright and Pegg have crafted characters you actually care about. Marsan's car salesman is gentle and warm, Considine's fitness freak is reserved, Freeman's estate agent is smooth and sweet... and then there's Gary.

In King, Pegg may have crafted his finest comic character. Alongside all the usual madcap capers and OTT reactions, there's a fragility (introduced fairly early on) that under-writes everything. You shouldn't like him. He is, ultimately, an ego-centric, self-obsessed tosser who lives in his own little world - but beneath that is a scared man who genuinely believes he has already lived the best night of his life, and all that's left to do is recapture it. And it's this mix of git and victim that Pegg absolutely nails, causing you to root for someone you want to punch.

A rare trick to pull off, but he does it.

One of the other things I love about The World's End is how unashamedly inclusive it is. Sure, you can watch it having never seen Shaun or Fuzz, there are no plotlines crossing over, but if you have seen the first two you're now in The Club.

Unabashed geeks to a man, Wright and Pegg clearly delight in their nods and in-jokes (and there's some litter at the end that will have you laughing out loud) that - if you get them - you almost congratulate yourself. You're with them. You're 'in'. And that's ace.

Basically, in a nutshell, what I'm getting at here is just how much damn fun this film is. It's got laughs, it's got violence, it's got heart, it's got pathos, it's got beer, it's got great performances, it's got aliens (not robots, robots are slaves...) and it's got a bloody big grin on it's face while it's doing it.

It also made me go home and listen to Sisters Of Mercy while writing this, which is another bonus.

History has shown that when the sun is shining, people don't tend to go sit in a cinema, which should not be the case. For a start, they have air conditioning, so you won't bake.

For seconds, everyone knows on a hot day you should grab yourself a Cornetto...