Edgar Wright’s Three Flavor Cornetto Trilogy ranks among the best trilogies of all time. It delivers uproarious comedy, awesome style, and authentic love letters to each movie’s respective genre. It’s a British anthology trilogy, and although there are some connections seen throughout the three movies, the cast being the most notable; the story, characters, and universe don’t cross over in any way. These films don’t just make up a brilliant trilogy, but they each stand on their own as impeccable movies.
The trilogy began with the highly praised horror zombie comedy, Shaun of the Dead, then onto one of the funniest action comedies to date, Hot Fuzz. The trilogy then concluded in 2013 with the divisive sci-fi comedy, The World’s End. These three films shot Edgar Wright onto the scene, with the acclaimed director now being regarded as one of the best and most creative filmmakers of recent times. Here is why the Three Flavor Cornetto Trilogy is one of the best trilogies of all time.
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Genius Comedy
Universal Pictures
There is no denying that the Cornetto Trilogy is among the funniest trilogies of all time, with each movie being hailed for its creative and uproarious comedy. Edgar Wright has a unique comedic flair that he applies to all of his movies, and The Cornetto Trilogy is Wright at his best. The gags are hilarious, with the continuous fence joke never failing to make audiences laugh.
Wright’s comedy is very unique to anything ever seen in film. While yes, the director employs many hilarious gags in all three movies, most of the comedy is visual. The way Wright frames, edits, and directs his scenes gives off a sense of authentic comedy, without throwing joke after joke towards the audience. The fence gag is just one example. In any other film, this joke would have failed to make many, if any, audiences laugh, but through Wright’s genius direction, one can’t help but always laugh at these scenes.
Reoccurring Themes
The three movies in The Cornetto Trilogy may not all exactly be connected in universe, but are instead connected by some hilarious and obscure themes. Most prolific is that each movie features a different flavor of Cornetto, hence why the trilogy is called The Cornetto Trilogy. Shaun of the Dead features a Strawberry Cornetto, Hot Fuzz features a blue Cornetto, and The Worlds End features a green mint chocolate-chip flavor, all relating to the genres and themes of each movie. Similarly, some other odd, yet the genius themes that connected each film include a hilarious fence gag, twins, asking a character if they want anything from the shop, and shared actors, just to list a few. Edgar Wright also implements genius foreshadowing through all of his movies, that are overlooked on a first watch, making The Cornetto Trilogy instantly re-watchable.
Exceptional Cast
Like we have previously mentioned, the cast for each movie is mostly the same. With Simon Pegg and Nick Frost always taking the lead, along with Bill Nighy, Paddy Constantine, and Martin Freeman popping up in all three movies in the trilogy, among many others. This was a brilliant move by Edgar Wright, as not only does it give the three movies some sense of connection, but the cast is phenomenal in every movie. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have an undeniable brotherly relationship in every movie, making us adore these characters even more. Plus, it’s always fun seeing exceptional British actors pop up in small roles, which Edgar Wright hilariously treats as cameos.
Brilliant References
StudioCanal
Each movie from The Cornetto Trilogy is among very different genres, allowing for many unique and surprising references. Every installation in The Cornetto Trilogy is presented as a satiric love letter to the genre Edgar Wright is tackling.
Shaun of The Dead has numerous references to classic zombie movies from the past. Most specifically with the name, being a fun play on George A. Romero’s zombie classic Dawn of The Dead, while also borrowing a few quotes from the movie as well. Another Romero reference is an homage to the classic line, “They’re coming to get you Barbara!” from Night of the Living Dead, but instead, Ed says to Shaun’s Mom (Barbara). Hot Fuzz sees many brilliant action movie references from movies like Bad Boys 2 and Point Break, as Danny fires his gun in the air and screams “ahhh!”, a hilarious running gag throughout the movie. The Worlds End is ripe with many sci-fi movie references, including John Carpenter’s The Thing, where the gang conducts a similar experiment to prove they are not “blanks”. Other references include Invasion of the Body Snatchers and even Ghostbusters.
Lovable Characters
There is no denying that the Cornetto Trilogy is filled with eccentric, off-the-wall, and caricatured characters. Some of these characters are infectiously lovable characters, mostly from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s two main characters. The writing and performances of these characters make audiences instantly fall in love with them, making the character’s journeys and growth feel much more personal, allowing for a much more entertaining and endearing experience.
Intriguing Stories of Friendship
Although all three films are based on very different stories from three very separate genres, one aspect that interconnects each movie in the Cornetto Trilogy is that no matter how explosive or otherworldly each movie is, Edgar Wright delivers a compelling and sweet story of friendship with each installment.
In Shaun of The Dead, we see two best friends battle the undead, with devastating and heartbreaking results. Hot Fuzz sees Sergeant Angel, a cool, self-reliant police officer who becomes best friends with a goofy police officer in a small town, who’s obsessed with action movies; mellowing Sergeant Angel and making him less self-reliant and more trusting of other people. The Worlds End follows alcoholic Gary Knight as he recruits his old school friends to re attempt the golden mile, rekindling a few friendships. This theme adds a lot of heart to the three films and paves the way for making each installment so uniquely brilliant.
