It's fun, but slight. Yes, I agree the first third is a bit slow, but, things pick up in the second half of this The Hangover meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Like HOT FUZZ and PAUL, there are some definitely fun set pieces and some decent buddy-buddy material, but, the connective tissue is thin at best. Still, the cult status of SHAUN OF THE DEAD and other pop culture work of Pegg, Frost & Wright gives them a lot of good will. And, it's a HELL of a lot better than the similarly themed THIS IS THE END.

The more I think about it, the more I think LA's characterization of it as "slight" is a bit off the mark.  It's not obviously complex, but Wright & Pegg's script is damn near fractal in how it seems to reveal more detail (consistent with what has come before) the closer one looks.  There's cleverness in the names and how it tips its hand early but doesn't give anything away.

Plus, I kind of dismissed Eddie Marsan in my original review, and he's actually pretty great in it, as is the rest of the ensemble.  It's funny enough to mask just how much care it is made with.


Oh, and I think any reservations people might have about Wright doing Ant-Man should go out the window.  He seems pretty clever with unlikely heroes, does great action, and if he's been fine-tuning the screenplay for the past few years, I suspect it will lead to something special.

Actually, I think the end is kind of brilliant, because

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it (a) emphasizes that "you should grow up like everyone else" is not the point of the movie and (b) doesn't back off what's unpleasant about the point it is trying to make about uniformity and conformity. I think a lot of movies would be a little wishy-washy about it, but Wright & company aim to tear the Starbuckers down and find not standing up for your friends a much more heinous crime than living in the past.  It may not be the end or message we expect, but it's the one that fits.