Taking a small break from my list of theme movies, I just had to check out the well-reviewed comedy This Is The End. I was unsure of it at first, since I am only sometimes able to watch any of director Evan Goldberg’s films. When he teams up with star Seth Rogen, his films are hit-and-miss for me, ranging from one of my favorites 50/50 (Goldberg produced), to Superbad, to the worst like The Green Hornet, and his middle of the road (at least for me) Pineapple Express. While the two of them have both been active together, I never go into a movie by these two without some concerns. Some of their jokes are definitely stale, as much of it revolves around drug humor, and an overuse of hyper-machoism that wears on the brain. But like their excellent 50/50, at least I know there is the possibility of something great. While the aforementioned film about dealing with a very serious issue in cancer had its funny moments, you knew it had to take its subject matter seriously, which they did well, especially with Rogen writing, directing, and producing. But in This Is The End, you might as well forget the heavy stuff, sit back, and have a barrel-full of laughs in this cameo-happy comedy that has a lot more surprises than you may think going in!
What I think really (and I mean really) works for This Is The End, is that the actors, writers, and director are just having fun. Everyone involved is committed to the idea, and all of them deliver outstanding performances. The idea is that all of the actors are just playing themselves, or caricatures of their personalities. Even without the cameos, the main cast includes the usual jokesters that the masses have grown to know: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride all provide nearly-endless hilarity, and while you may think they may all be good friends, you could not be more wrong. There is a lot of resentment going around, which creates problems throughout especially when fellow Canadians Rogen and Baruchel go to a party hosted by James Franco. There are tons of cameos at the party, because why not? When a celebrity hosts a party, you are bound to see droves of them. Michael Cera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse join their Superbad buddy Jonah Hill, comedians Kevin Hart and Aziz Ansari share some laughs, and Rihanna even lends her pipes during a drunken song headed by Craig Robinson. It just looks like everyone is having fun– legitimate, sincere, fun. And they are not the only ones. (And Emma Watson also is included in some very funny moments).
Another thing that works is that Goldberg is one of the writers, and he has no problem making fun of himself either. He even references that The Green Hornet was a failure, and all of the actors involved take shots at each other as well. But the movie is not endless humor, as the titular “end” is coming, leading to some tense moments. Not overly tense though, but the pseudo-action scenes are actually done pretty well too. The trailers did a good job of not showing what the actual “end” was, and therefore I was pretty surprised by what transpired. But even with those moments, the jokes keep coming, and the quality of the jokes was actually pretty high. The context of the jokes varied, and so you won’t get marijuana joke after joke here, but a good variety that keeps the pacing strong. Even in my small theatre (I was only with about 50 people), all of us were rolling around in our seats laughing. I know I was losing it during a very funny scene between James Franco and Danny McBride over some “ancient” pornographic material. Sure, the movie has its lewd moments, but I have come to expect that. Even so though, it was not a deterrent to me. People who are tired of jokes about genitalia, drugs, and sex may still not be able to look past it, but the humor got to places that were much more intelligent as well thanks to the in-jokes and personal barbs at one another.
As far as comedies go, I highly recommend This Is The End, especially if you are a fan of the films I mentioned earlier. Like I alluded to before, I am not always the biggest fan of those types of movies, but I was laughing loudly in a mostly-empty theatre. If a movie can make me laugh, even without the feedback of a large audience, that speaks highly to me. Will Rogen and Goldberg be able to keep up the momentum of this critical success? Or will they drop off again due to their lack of consistency? I do not know, but if they can make more accessible comedies like 50/50 and This Is The End, they could have a brighter future.
Michael Night's Miscellany 