Guess what? It IS that compelling!

Rating: 9/10 (26 June 2013)

I just saw This is the End with a group of friends and was struck by something I'm sure a lot of other viewers found: these guys are a lot like me and my friends! And that, in a nutshell, is what makes This is the End such a funny, relatable and downright entertaining movie! The movie is full of slapstick, some special effects, and big names, but what it comes down to is the writing. The banter in this film between the actors is so sharp and humorous, that you find yourself sucked into the conversations even more than the plot itself. If you're anything like me, you read up on some behind-the-scenes trivia about the movie and found that about 50% of the movie was ad-libbed. Knowing that made the movie that much funnier. Seth Rogen and his writing/directing partner Evan Goldberg are just geniuses. The way they can take grown men, and reduce them to infantile children is gold. The interactions between the men is hilarious and you feel like the luckiest fly on the wall that ever lived. These actors are some of the biggest players in the comedy world and to watch them take bites out of these roles like they're big juicy apples was amazing to watch. I'm sure Seth hemmed and hawed over whether to make the actors portray themselves, and I tell you, what a difference it makes. You feel like you intimately and genuinely know these people and it makes the experience that much more enjoyable. Without ruining anything, I will say that there are more than a couple stand out scenes in the film and the actors were so good that I couldn't pick just 1 stand out role! OK, I'll backtrack: anything Danny McBride does is absolute genius and this film is no different. Jonah Hill also makes a case for himself to star in bigger comedic roles in the future. (Check out an "explosive" scene between McBride and Franco and tell me you won't die laughing). As always, James Franco lends a cool quality to gross out humour but he stands right up there with the best of them! Craig Robinson is effortless in his timing and delivery and Jay Baruchel plays the straight man to a tee. To me, This is the End marks a new chapter in film comedy. And I'm dying to see what Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have in store for us next.