Hilarious, Chilling, Philosophical

Rating: 10/10 (30 July 2013)

It's easy to give "This Is the End" a bad review, because it makes the viewer uncomfortable. As some reviewers have rightly pointed out, it's a horror movie. If it were just a screwball comedy with immature jokes, it would be on par with 40-Y.O. Virgin, and indeed many such (hilarious) jokes are used throughout to lighten the mood (the argument over the magazine leaps to mind). But in fact this movie is a thriller worthy of Hitchcock, and it raises deep philosophical questions: how would people start acting if the rapture really started taking place? What does it mean to "be good"? Do we envy movie stars for making way more money than us? How does a group of buddies start acting when things get serious? Because of this comedy mixed with depth, and its audacity, I give it a 10.
People have commented that the acting is bad. I would say the acting is so good that a lot of times you think the cameos are as obnoxious in real life as they portray themselves to be in this film.
The demise of James Franco is particularly poignant. I would venture to say he has the best character out of any of the (anti)heroes. (True, he hoarded food, but it was his to begin with, and he provided sanctuary to his friends, as well as leadership.) Yet Franco meets the same fate as the sadistic cannibal McBride because of Franco's hubris/arrogance. Rubbing it in the badguy's face is as bad as being bad. This illustrates, I believe, an unfortunate fact: that society often has as little tolerance for the "proud" as the "bad".
I found the ascent of Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel to be extremely cathartic, and with the blue light and beautiful music of Whitney Houston, it made me (a 28 year-old man) almost start crying. The saving of Seth Rogen reminds us that sacrificing for friends and loved ones, being truly good, more than being good "by the letter" is what really matters.
Finally the end leaves us unfulfilled/uncomfortable, asking, what would heaven really be like? Is it just hedonistic pleasure? Might it be as good as something we already have on earth if we're lucky? It reminds us that we should appreciate the good things we have.