THIS IS THE END is Great Fun and a Treat for Fans

Rating: 9/10 (14 December 2013)

THIS IS THE END is probably the funniest movie of 2013, unless you're not a fan of Seth Rogen and his crew. If you generally avoid his movies, you may as well steer clear because this movie has all the off-color, raunchy, potentially offensive goodies I expect with Rogen and longtime buddy/writing partner Evan Goldberg come together. THIS IS THE END has everything you could possibly want from an apocalyptic comedy: death, gore, bodily fluid gags, demons, demon rape, cannibalism, etc. I love the movie, but no one can say it isn't juvenile. This is not intellectual comedy to engage the mind. It's a movie where stoners discover the joy of drinking their own urine in a crisis situation. In an unusual twist, each of the actors/actresses in the movie portray an exaggerated version of themselves (or their public personas). It begins when Jay Baruchel arrives in Los Angeles for a weekend of fun and catching up with best buddy Seth Rogen. That night, Seth invites Jay to join him for a house- warming party at James Franco's house but Jay's not interested because he doesn't really gel with Seth's new Los Angeles crew of friends. Seth convinces him to go and Jay begins regretting it almost immediately when the Rapture begins and the good citizens of Los Angeles are pulled to Heaven in beams of light while the rest of humanity is left to fend for themselves. Now Jay is trapped in Franco's house with James Franco, Seth Rogen, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, and Danny McBride and the crew of spoiled actors are forced to fight for their survival as the world ends around them.
This movie is nearly two hours of a bunch of friends getting together and having a blast shooting a high concept comedy. Watching it, you know it had to be crazy fun to work on this set. These guys are all friends on and off camera and it adds an awesome chemistry for the movie. I think that's why I love the idea of each actor playing himself. I'm sure it helped bring their natural friendships into the characters. Each of them is more of a caricature of their public personas or exaggerated versions of their perceived personalities. Seth Rogen is an amiable, cowardly stoner. James Franco is educated and pretentious, with an awkward man crush on Rogen. Jonah Hill is overly saccharine with a holier-than-thou attitude stemming from his Academy Award nomination for his role in MONEYBALL. Craig Robinson is a chill ladies' man, and Danny McBride is an aggressive man-child. Plus the movie is loaded with cameos. I'm pretty sure everyone who's been part of the Apatow scene makes an appearance at Franco's house party in the first act: Michael Cera (as a scene-stealing cokehead), Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Aziz Ansari, Kevin Hart, and more (including Rihanna, for some reason). And there are some even better cameos from people you'd never expect, including a post- HARRY POTTER Emma Watson (which isn't news, she's in all the trailers). It only drives home the vibe that this is a bunch of friends coming together to make this movie as fun as possible.
I honestly can't think of much to complain about with THIS IS THE END. It does it's job, and it kept me laughing pretty solidly from the opening titles to the end credits. There are some twists you might not see coming and I can honestly say there was rarely a dull moment. Right when you believe they can't possibly take this whole apocalypse scenario any further, they prove you wrong. Writers/directors Rogen and Goldberg throw just about everything they can at these guys, knowing that people will love to see a handful of pampered movie stars squirm under bizarre conditions. Food shortages, looting, demons, personal conflicts, and debating who may or may not be the house rapist are just some of the obstacles these guys will need to overcome if they hope to survive the end times. I really loved this movie and I think the usual fan base for this group of comedians are going to be very happy here. As icing on the cake, we get plenty of allusions to the guys' previous movies. Franco's character in particular has a fondness for keeping props from his previous movies. But the best comes in the form of an unofficial trailer for a sequel to Rogen and Franco's PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. I really think this movie was just as much for Rogen and his buddies as it was for the fans. THIS IS THE END is consistently hilarious and it's got some fun surprises, and I wouldn't be surprised if it finishes the years as one of my top favorite films for 2013.