by Cookie N Screen
Who doesn’t love Simon Pegg? Ok.So he’s made a couple of misjudged comments about film and geek culture that he has thoroughly apologised for. But before then and after (because look at his face, how can you not forgive him?), Simon Pegg has been the British hero of all things nerdy, comedic and emotional too. He has gifted us with a whole heap of unforgettable roles and has even translated his humour marvellously to Hollywood. Appealing to audiences of every age, Pegg is also a wordsmith genius who can write great films as well as appear in them. As he stars in one of the best British romantic comedies Man Up, alongside Lake Bell, out in cinemas today, let’s have a look at some of his greatest films.
Honourable Mention: Spaced and Big Train. Because they are television shows, as superb as they are, cannot be included on a film list. Though, I urge you to watch them.
Who doesn’t love Simon Pegg? Ok.So he’s made a couple of misjudged comments about film and geek culture that he has thoroughly apologised for. But before then and after (because look at his face, how can you not forgive him?), Simon Pegg has been the British hero of all things nerdy, comedic and emotional too. He has gifted us with a whole heap of unforgettable roles and has even translated his humour marvellously to Hollywood. Appealing to audiences of every age, Pegg is also a wordsmith genius who can write great films as well as appear in them. As he stars in one of the best British romantic comedies Man Up, alongside Lake Bell, out in cinemas today, let’s have a look at some of his greatest films.
Honourable Mention: Spaced and Big Train. Because they are television shows, as superb as they are, cannot be included on a film list. Though, I urge you to watch them.
Star Trek: Into Darkness
Bringing a space epic of the past and remaking it for the modern age is tricky. After all, if you do it badly, like, say, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, you could tarnish a whole franchise. But when you put the epic J.J Abrahams in the director’s chair, you are going to get something special. For the role of famous controller Scotty (you know, the one beams them up), Simon Pegg was enlisted for somewhat Scottish comedic relief, introduced in the second half of the first film as a wayward engineer. However, he does play a key role to the intergalactic proceedings especially when confronting Kirk on shipping torpedoes and, alarmingly, hands in his notice. As they battle Cumberbatch’s Khan, Scotty becomes pivotal into bringing him down. It’s a great performance with a lot of soul. And luckily, Pegg will be penning the third instalment.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
Bringing Brad Bird onto the flagging series was probably the best thing that the franchise needed and unspeakably transformed a fourth episode into a critically acclaimed action film, sitting at an amazing 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie revolves around Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt as his team are implicated in a terrorist bombing. Having to go rogue, they must clear the organisations name without alerting anyone to their presence. Intense, action packed and with that amazing Dubai stunt, it’s hard to picture where our Brit Pegg would fit into it all. But luckily, he has the charm, the versatility and the talent to be a vital player - bringing tech man Benji Dunn to stunning realisation.
Big Nothing
This extremely underappreciated film is the first collaboration between Pegg and Friend’s star David Schwimmer (the other being the Schwimmer directed Run Fat Boy Run which nearly made it on the list as a guilty pleasure). The film was fell under the radar but that doesn’t mean it is teaming with bleeding greatness. The indie flick and dark comedy sees Pegg reinvent himself as Gus, part of a best friend team with Schwimmer’s Charlie as the pair start a blackmail scheme that is seemingly fool-proof until it naturally goes awry. With a terrific performance from Pegg and Schwimmer a like, the movie is darkly droll with a smatter of a crime caper atmosphere and craziness to boot.
The Boxtrolls
The recent Oscar nominated film by Laika was teaming with stop-motion brilliance as well as telling a great story at the centre of it (the film also boasts one of the best puns of all time, hinted by the sleepy “badoomtsh” when said). The film revolves around the town of Cheesebridge where the titular beasts run amok under a vicious rumour that they killed a young baby. That baby is actually Eggs, a boy who they raised as one of their own. Each of the Boxtrolls are hunted by the ruthless Archibald Snatcher who has fame and glory in his eyes as he holds the town to much bigger ransom than the kind-hearted creatures. Simon Pegg voices inventor Herbert Trubshaw who is captured and forced to build a sinister contraption for Snatcher in a vocal performance both witty, light-hearted and visceral.
The Cornetto Trilogy
I must’ve spent a few good minutes thinking on how to handle this series. Separate pieces on each one? Which order to I pop them in? Do I exclude one in order the rest of Simon Pegg’s catalogue? The decisions! The choices! So let’s roll them into one. The film series has amassed an amazing collection of fans who will all battle over which one is the best. But either film you choose, you cannot beat the epic comedic series that is linked together by the titular ice cream. There’s Shaun of the Dead as a hapless man tries to survive the zombie apocalypse with everyone he loves. Hot Fuzz which revolves around a workaholic police officer is relegated to a sleep village town where suspicious murders unearth a sinister plot. And most recent The World’s End where alcoholic Gary tries to live a youthful day of debauchery with his estranged school friends but winds up the centre of an alien invasion. Each with their own vein of awesomeness and hilarity, Pegg’s most stellar turn is in the third and final one where he produces one of the most emotive moments of the film when Gary admits he tried to commit suicide.
Regardless of how you feel, each has of The Cornetto Trilogy has its own excellent spirit and they all culminate in one of the best comedy series.
Regardless of how you feel, each has of The Cornetto Trilogy has its own excellent spirit and they all culminate in one of the best comedy series.
What Do You Think?
Are these the best Simon Pegg films?
Or are these choices a-Paul-lling?
Let us know in the comments below!
Man Up is out in cinemas today. Read Jo's review now!
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