I Wish Some Rentals Were Free

Rating: 4/10 (7 October 2013)

--WARNING: There are some spoilers ahead for those who haven't seen the film, so just a heads up. In order to accurately review this film, it may be necessary to talk about some key moments.--
I really didn't want to go into this movie ready to dislike it, however, I quickly had that uncomfortable -this is going to go to a bad place fast- vibe, that obviously I should've had, but it didn't cushion the blow at all for what is perhaps the Rogen gangs worst effort to date. Reason for being uncomfortable? Well, that feeling didn't come from the apocalypse itself, but rather from just how quickly it was evident that this movie was going to be bad from start to finish.
I read before hand that this movie had gotten rave reviews, I also knew from the trailer I watched for it that I was going to be really confused as to why. It didn't look impressive in the slightest, and the humor seemed dated and more depressive rather than funny.
So I had every reason to be concerned that I would waste an hour and a half of my time if I sat down to watch it, but my curiosity eventually got the best of me and I rented it, and...well, basically this movie is a joke. Jay returns to L.A to visit Seth and gets invited over to James Franco's house for a party, and the rapture happens...that's about all the story you need, it stops there. There are shades of a story, a shadow here and there perhaps, an attempt at a narrative of sorts, but more or less just a bunch of ideas and jokes strung together to make this appear like a movie rather than a singular, and mostly boring event. Sad part is the joke seems to be on the movie rather than the audience. For one thing, the Apatow gang, even with Apatow absent and Rogen at the helm, couldn't save this from being a flat out bad idea for a feature film.
It mocks everything it shamelessly plugs at the same time: Emma Watson has the biggest cameo and she just happens to have a new movie called "The Bling Ring" coming out around the same time, spoofing apocalyptic films, which are a dime a dozen these days, and lastly, the musical number at the end with the Backstreet Boys couldn't have been a more blatant plug for their reunion tour this year.
The reliance on repetition of words during joke segments as well as jokes that most of us have already heard a variant of in other films with the same cast makes this feel like a very forced and by the numbers film that aims to give the audience everything it has already had more than enough of. Bro-mances have been declining in quality for years now, and This is the End showcases exactly why that is...if you go for more dirty and more vulgar to 1-up each previous film, rather than more creative and witty, eventually you'll just end up looking foolish rather than artistic. I know, taste is subject, but still, it doesn't help as much as it hurts after a while in my book. Not to mention any movie that makes Michael Cera the exact opposite of who he actually is, then casts him as himself and actually thinks it would be funny for the brief twenty minutes he's present in the film for, does not have the audience in mind.
Casting everyone to play themselves is about the only unique thing about this film...yet at the same time, that's kind of the exact opposite of original. It's some bizarre meta-fictional trip that's logic seems more geared towards those who don't really think about it that much rather than grounded by any sort of good idea. Why play yourself if you're really not playing yourself?
In the end, This is the End cannot end quick enough, as it's basically an opportunity for a bunch of friends to make a movie and not care about anything they put into it. It's no Superbad, or Forgetting Sarah Marshall, nor I Love You, Man...It's really sadly not anything that a true fan of this trope would actually enjoy watching.
So unless you're really serious about your commitment to Rogen films, or just happen to love low brow at it's raunchiest and most anti- appropriate, avoid this stinker.