This is the End is on everyones radar because of the high concept of comedy stars (as themselves) surviving with each other during the apocalypse. You are intrigued, I know, but you are also weary to go further incase of let down. I must say you will be 'on cloud nine happy' how freaking funny this movie is!
The film was inspired by a 2007 short film that Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel starred in called Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse. The short film was pretty promising and funny so it was nice to see they decided to expand upon it and go big or go home on it.
The plot is strikingly simple: Jay Baruchel decided to come to LA from Canada to hangout with his buddy, Seth Rogan, and have fun together. Seth gets Jay, unwilling, to go to James Franco's house warming party. Jay doesn't like any of those guys and feels out of place and go out for cigarettes with Seth. Apocalyptic mayhem soon ensues. They are than forced to live with each other and other big name comedians like Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and the awesome Danny McBride. Fun and messed up will for sure come from that mix of guys.
The film gives you a sense of realism to a certain degree of those guys being themselves at a party filled with so much current talent it was awesome. You had a hilarious, I mean hilarious version of Micharl Cera than Kevin Hart, Emma Watson, Rihanna, Paul Rudd, Jason Segal, and a few great others. They were so funny in the scenes they were in. I will say there are a few brilliant cameos that will literally make you tear up laughing so hard. It made the movie go up +5 points for being so random and hilarious. The guy behind me was stomping laughing so hard. I won't spoil it for you I promise. *as I type the name and deleted it because I want to tell the world!!*
The film is hilarious on its own accord, with the concept being funny, but the individual characters improvising is where the gold is. Director Evan Goldberg did a fantastic job of keeping the ball moving on the film with letting these guys literally be themselves and do their own sense of comedy. Surprisingly, all the jokes work great going off one another and will make you laugh just watching it. I know they are playing highly fictionalized version of themselves, but that is where they fun comes from all the way. I'm not really sure Jonah Hill is that overly nice, but I do believe that Danny McBride is that D#$% version of himself that is so fun to love to hate. Serously though Danny you are awesome if you ever read this review. He really did shine in the scenes he was in and almost stole the show.
I can't give all the credit of being great to Danny McBride because the whole cast did some of their best roles in a longtime. James Franco was hilarious, and Seth Rogen was actually really likable and couldn't have been better. I can't complain about any of the characters being so horrible they turned from being likable a-holes into straight up a-hole territory. It doesn't exist.
So you have a film about end of the world, comedy, action, adventure, whats missing..oh wait..there is an actually bromance part to it that fits perfect. The film is a few sketches sewn together to make a hilarious film, but a big factor from beginning to end is the relationship between good friends Jay and Seth. The relationship is rocky and the beginning and gets worse than better. You really start to like these guys and want them to live. They did great on keeping the film grounded enough so you could get to know these guys better than a few great jokes.
The only problems I could have with the film was one of it's best parts too. It really is a double edged sword. The simple plot gave room for times where it felt things needed to move on a little bit but they did great on trying to avoid it. The gore will make some uneasy because it was unexpected but it fits so well together it was meant to happen.
This is the End had an amazing cast, special effects, ideas, and cameos to make it a really fun film that will surpise a lot of people. It has its sweet moments, it's scary freaky moments, and its gut busting hilarious moments. If you are a fan of these guys previous films and humor, then you will greatly appreciate this film as one, if not, the best in their career to this point. And just think it was all without Judd Apatow behind the camera. If you coudn't care less about their usual humor than you will have trouble liking the running gags and few random jokes, but will likely find something you enjoyed a bit.
B+
I will tell people I gave it an A because of the one fantastic cameo I promised I wouldn't tell. *I typed it again and deleted it! It's killing me!*
