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They’ve built their careers on making outrageous comedies like Pineapple Express and Superbad. So when some of your favorite comic actors find themselves facing the apocalypse in This Is the End, the result is just as wild and crazy and over-the-top as you might expect.
The apocalyptic comedy finds Jay Baruchel flying into LAX for a guys’ weekend with Seth Rogen. He’s excited to spend some one-on-one time with his old friend, but his weekend plans are altered when Seth suggests attending a housewarming party at James Franco’s new place. Jay has no interest in hanging out with Seth’s new Hollywood friends, but he soon finds himself at a big Hollywood party with a bunch of people he doesn’t really like.
Jay finally convinces Seth to leave the party—but then a series of catastrophic events leads them right back to Franco’s house, where they find themselves trapped inside and waiting out the apocalypse with Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, and Danny McBride.
This Is the End is the apocalypse as you’ve never seen it before. It’s dark and thunderous and silly—and it’s all brought to the screen using some seriously cheesy effects.
Really, though, the most interesting thing about the film isn’t its apocalyptic action; it’s the fact that all of the actors are playing some kind of twisted version of themselves. For the most part—with just a few exceptions (like a coked-up, womanizing Michael Cera)—the characters are pretty much as you’d expect them to be, complete with quirks and egos and various hang-ups. And even the most mundane conversations tend to be entertaining. While the apocalypse rages on outside, the comics sit around and argue about things like the ownership of a candy bar—or who’s going to risk their lives to go out and search for food and water. They have hilarious heart-to-heart talks, as well as some seriously awkward (and, unfortunately, far from funny) fights.
For the first hour or so, This Is the End is quite possibly the strangest, funniest disaster movie to hit theaters in years. The cast is great (with the exception of McBride, who’s just plain grating), and the characters’ personalities make for some laugh-out-loud scenarios. Eventually, though, it seems to run out of good material (as is often the case when a movie is inspired by a short film, as this one was). But instead of fizzling out and limping to a finish, it goes completely insane. While most of the movie is spent inside Franco’s house, with the actors fearing—but not really seeing—what’s going on outside, the end of the film brings all of the apocalyptic horrors inside. The sudden change is both clumsy and bizarre—and it’s drawn out much longer than necessary.
Despite the fact that it falls apart in the end, though, This Is the End is still a wild and crazy ride through the apocalypse. So if you love Seth Rogen’s brand of comedies, you’ll enjoy joining the actor as he laughs his way to Judgment Day.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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