Let’s face
it, we’ve all wanted to, at one time or another, get together with friends and
make low-budget films at home. So, what do you get when you and your friends
are all famous movie stars and can get backing for your project? This Is the
End is what you get, in case you wanted me to spell it out.
Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jonal Hill, James Franco, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson play their real life personas along with a plethora of other star friends of theirs in this apocalyptic comedy of mega proportion full of tacky special effects and over the top scenarios. But, if you expect anything more than hilarious banter between the cast, then this is not a film for you.
This Is the End is the story of bursting egos as Judgement Day falls upon our unsuspecting celebrities while party into the night. What follows is purely illogical, yet fascinatingly entertaining. The film is full of references and comedy that isn’t outright funny. Every dialog needs to be dissected and it helps a lot if you are familiar with the various works of the cast. This is in no way saying that the comedy is intelligent, on the contrary it is very raw and brash. The best part is without a doubt the actors playing on to the idea the audience has of celebrities, that is of them being hard party goers who are only interested in girls, drugs, alcohol, and more partying. Some of the supporting cast including Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and the incredibly funny Michael Cera and charmingly sexy Emma Watson makes the film worth watching. Sadly, their roles are short and aren’t capitalized upon much.
What makes the film work is the obvious camaraderie between the cast. The ease with which the main leads work together in the film shines throughout and had the film been made with stars that were unfamiliar with each other, it would never have worked.
This Is the End is basically a bunch of friends having fun together and letting you watch them do so, and in the process making some money. It’s not a classic, nor is it genre defining, yet it manages to entertain, primarily because of cracking dialogue and absurdness that made me go “This is Dope” or “That’s totally whack” or “WTF is happening” after every few minutes.
Rating 3/5
