By chance Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg have found themselves at the helm of a trilogy of films. It began innocently enough, having worked together on Asylum and Spaced, they expanded upon an episode involving an imagined zombie invasion at an art show and delivered Shaun Of The Dead. A film that confidently mashed together a certain self-aware irreverence with a surprising amount of heart, gore and laughs.


Naturally, with the film achieving success at the British box office and cult adoration abroad, they were quick to bring us a follow up. Fortuantely, they had the savvy to not just do a hasty knock off Shaun Part 2 (that ignominious 'honour' can be seen with the likes of Horne & Corden's abysmal Lesbian Vampire Killers), instead they turned their attentions away from George Romero and targeted Michael Bay.


Hot Fuzz capitalised on their success intelligently, drawing in an even wider range of comedy and acting talent to create an even better film, stuffed with macabre humour and a big soppy heart. Indeed, not only was the writing partnership between Wright and Pegg a vital ingriedient, but the buddy relationship between Pegg and actor Nick Frost had become key, playfully sent up and juxtaposed with the homo-erotic machismo of Bay's films and, most explicitly, Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break.


Due to a gag heldover from Shaun to Fuzz involving Cornettos the term 'Three Flavours Cornetto' trilogy was born, and a third part was practically demanded by the fans whether Pegg and Wright had ever considered it or not.


So, ten years after Shaun of the Dead was filmed we now have the third part of the trilogy, laden with all the expectation that warrants. Indeed, in the interim Pegg has become something of the go-to quirky Brit for Hollywood blockbusters such as Mission: Impossible and Star Trek. Whilst Wright directed Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, elevating his thinking geek's auteur status further, and getting him signed up by Marvel pictures to direct their impending Ant Man adaptation.  Even Nick Frost has made the most of the Cornetto connection, starring in and co-writing alien comedy Paul with Pegg, and heading up his own impending feature Cuban Fury.
On the plus side, the nature of the Cornetto trilogy being comprised of three unrelated films is to their advantage, but at the same time it renders the parts more individually distinct, therefore, to some extent, increasing the chances of failure, especially if they dare stray from the linking elements that made Shaun and Fuzz the beloved comedy classics they now deservedly have become.


It is then commendably gutsy that they have strayed from the formula so marvellously, whilst keeping enough milestones in place to create the illusion of interconnectivity with The World's End.


On paper the plot which sees 40-something arrested developer Gary King (Pegg) reunite his old schoolmates to finish the 12 pub/60 pint pub crawl they started in the mid-80s, only to discover that since they've all left something has changed about their hometown in a sinister fashion, seems like a mix of Hot Fuzz's creepy middle England vibes and Shaun's invasion, but in practice it's a whole other cocktail.


What's most immediately unique is Pegg, his Gary King is quite unlike the character we've seen him play before, he is unlikable, yet somehow we immediately warm to him, there is an almost unconscious pity projected upon him, both by Wright's directorship and Pegg's fractured portrayl. As he gets the old gang back together the line between his perception of reality and what that fateful night actually meant to his friends becomes increasingly clear.


The ensemble playing his childhood cadre - Eddie Marsan, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman and Nick Frost - are superb, capitalising on their existing baggage as actors to shoehorn in what they can given the surprisingly spry running time. The film really takes its time setting the scene, which does mean some of the actual crawl flashes by in a blur, but it's all part of Wright and Pegg's insistence that - irregardless of yucks, laughs and action - story is key.


It's worth noting though that the Pegg/Frost relationship has a very different feel to previous installments, in the simplest way they have reversed the roles, but there's a lot more to it than that and the way it is fed throughout the film is handled excellently.


Beyond the bromance there's a love triangle between King, Considine's Steve and Rosamund Pike as Sam, lending another new flavour to this third scoop. Though Pike has a reasonably thankless role, and does disappear from the film altogether at times.


Conceptually though is where this film stands proudly above its predecessors, a mix of John Wyndham and Douglas Adams with a delcious cultural commentary squirreled away inside, and then boldly set out in its final scenes. There's a great, and pleasingly bonkers, look at the world we live in driving the film, and it will hopefully linger in the minds of viewers once the credits start to roll.


As with all of Wright's work the film is densely packed with visual detail, there are so many in-jokes and subtleties that it's worth rewatching just to sit back and savour those. Whilst the film does get a little shambolic at times it's oddly because it's so relentlessly paced, I would be more than willing to spend even more time getting to know these characters and existing in this little world.


Perhaps not as immediate as Shaun or Fuzz, there is a grander ambition at work in The World's End that certainly makes me hope that this isn't the last time Pegg and Wright dip into their freezer section and thaw out another slice of fried gold.