A hilarious END indeed!

Rating: 7/10 (24 December 2013)

Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen strikes an almost perfect comic note with This is The End. Its studded with characters playing their exaggerated selves. So Seth Rogen is the same guy in every one of his movies, Danny McBride is jerkier than ever, James Franco is still stuck with memories from Pineapple Express and still thinks he's besties with Seth, and the recently Academy Award nominated Jonah Hill is trying hard to be the nicest guy ever.
As mentioned above its an almost perfect stoner movie. This is The End is exactly what you'd expect when Seth Rogen teams up with Evan Goldberg. Its raunchy, juvenile and situational. This is a movie where you'd want to appreciate the idiocy and callowness of 30 year olds running around during a weird scenario. Our protagonists, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride finds themselves stuck at James Francos house when all hell breaks loose outside and the forthcoming events are nothing short of uproarious. I am sure the cast had a splendid time shooting and the enthusiasm could be felt. The same could be said about Seth and Evan directing them, they did have a blast and it could be seen on screen. The utter stupidity that's smeared through to the end had me in splits. Where in some movies the stars might have emerged as legendary heroes saving the day, you snigger at protagonists' sheer helplessness here instead.
There are many scenes where you think the cast was just ad-libbing but you can't help but chuckle at them coz it felt like they were having a natural argument or conversation like they would in real life. Like those repulsively hilarious argument between James Franco and Danny McBride about the cum on a porn magazine. Having played their own exaggerated counterparts, the actors got a real chance at making fun of their own movies. There were loads of references to other movies that as soon as I finished watching it I had an immense craving to watch Pineapple Express and Superbad again, thanks to the mock-sequel that was played in-movie. And then there were the cameos, its just stupendously hilarious how each of them turned out to be.
Post the 2nd act it takes on a dark shade but they even managed to make a poke fun at it making way for more laughs. And when you thought it was losing steam, it quickly picks up the pace ensuring even more entertainment. Had those scenes been a bit trimmed, it would have been perfect. I was also a bit put off with the excessive bromance.
We're are not unacquainted with movies like this, we'd previously got Shaun of The Dead and Zombieland sharing the same genre. In an industry populated by endless stoner and apocalypse movies This is The End stands out. It carves a niche of its own, inducing a kind of natural comedy into scenarios like this. Much like the ad-libbing cast, This is The End is unpredictable, ridiculously dirty and prodigiously hilarious. Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen has indeed hit pure comedy gold with This is The End.