Well-written mix of highbrow, lowbrow, meta and absurdist comedy

Rating: 6/10 (10 July 2013)

I found Superbad to be very uneven, and its characters irritatingly unsympathetic. Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised to see in this movie a consistent level of self-aware comedy and believable (comedic) emotional development which naturally advanced with the plot. The movie features a slew of actors playing against type, with many tongue-in-cheek nods to their real-life personas and their conceptions in pop culture -- James Franco is pretentious, Danny McBride abrasive and self-centered, Jonah Hill meek and accommodating, Emma Watson reimagined as a fierce survivalist, and of course Michael Cera in a brief but memorable performance that hearkens back to Neil Patrick Harris's cameo in Harold & Kumar. Craig Robinson seems to have also finally hit on a dynamic character who is interesting to watch on screen, and he is one of the best parts of the movie. Indeed, though I felt little love for the bickering idiots in Superbad, the bickering idiots of This Is The End are ultimately sympathetic, which is essential to the tone of the movie.
There are jokes that didn't work for me, including far too many genitalia jokes and a tasteless men-being-raped-is-funny moment. The movie also goes at least fifteen minutes too long, lingering in the second act when I was restless for the third. But the topical references seem only more hilarious given how badly they will age (Gangnam Style and Backstreet Boys being notable examples) and quotable lines are nearly endless; I feel destined to rewatch this movie and enjoy new jokes each time.