This Is The End – Film Review
Director(s): Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Michael Cera and Emma Watson
Release Date: 28 June, 2013
One of the breakout hits of last year was undoubtedly the absurdly hilarious comedy 21 Jump Street. Those lucky enough to see it probably came out of the cinema fairly surprised, but very satisfied (and indeed thankful that Korean Jesus is watching over us all). This isn’t to say that expectations were low for that film, just not particularly high. This is how you will feel coming out of This is The End. Counter-intuitive though it is to raise hopes, This Is the End is mighty hilarious and, for a time, smarter than your average comedy.
The film begins shortly before the End, the End being the Apocalypse. A group of actors are partying at James Franco’s house, doing drugs and having sexy consensual sex when it happens. As they watch the outside world crumble into eternal hell-fire they have to pool their resources, learn to like each other a little bit and try to survive.
Remember when Robert Downey Jr. started announcing he was Iron Man at award ceremonies and comic conventions? Remember how funny it was the first time we realized that Adam West was the mayor in Family Guy? Remember when Jennifer Lawrence photobombed Sarah Jessica Parker (and it was incredible?!) It’s one thing to have a actors pretend to be funny people in comedies. Seeing actors just being funny is something else entirely, and therein lies the central hook of this film. Seeing these celebrities rip into themselves, acting like the caricatures that the mass media has sculpted them into, or sometimes, the exact opposite, is a work of postmodern art. This makes up the entire first act of the film, before things start to, ahem, go wrong.
Take Michael Cera for example. Since Superbad, he’s been handed role after role that depicts him as the socially awkward kid, totally shy, meek and well articulated. Fifteen minutes into This Is The End, we see him as the biggest, greasiest sleaze-bag at the party, more likely to pull a knife than anyone else there. It’s like watching the actors guild from Team America, only this time we’re laughing with them rather than at them. This means that, to save face, a lot of the cast play it pretty safe. Seth Rogen is questioned on why he always plays the same character in his films, but this is just a throwaway scene, barely memorable. It’s far more engaged with the idea of everyone just being an over-the-top idiot actor. Not too cutting edge, but damn funny for the most part.
Having said that, it soon becomes very apparent that this is based on a short film. Well over half the movie is spent with the cast trapped in Franco’s house, watching them screw around, hit each other with stuff and make masturbation jokes. This is where the film begins to fall and the stretch marks become visible. There’s an agonizing back and forth between Franco and McBride, in which they talk about cumming for about two minute longer than anyone should ever have to (cue premature ejaculation joke…). It’s strange how hit and miss these moments are, as there are moments of obvious laziness inter-cut with periods of comedy gold. Emma Watson’s appearance is a breath of fresh air in a testosterone dominated environment, but makes a swift, albeit hilarious, exit.
The gags are fast and consistent, so for every dud (and there are a few), there are at least two gems. There are cameos aplenty, with one of the best saved for last where it is strongly needed. While the majority of the budget was clearly spent towards this climax, creating big set pieces and giant, fiery CGI genitals (don’t ask), the creativity is strongly lacking at this point. It elicits the odd chuckle rather than constant laughs, which is just unfortunate considering how utterly spoiled we are up to this point. However, just as the film is in danger of becoming mediocre, we are left on a literal high note with…..well, not to spoil anything, but it’s something that’ll appeal to Everybody.
The cast are all reasonably solid, with almost everyone bringing a little something to the table. Franco is fantastically shallow and vain, every bit as sleazy as haters might imagine him to be, but also darkly playful. McBride is the crude guy, utterly playing to type. He can come across as irritating, but there’s no arguing he gets some of the best lines. Robinson is particularly well rounded, a little out of place with the rest of the group, which makes him especially appealing. However, it’s Hill who should get the most credit for willingly tearing into his own persona. He plays up just about every negative comment that has been made about him as an actor, to terrific effect. He clearly knows he isn’t universally loved, and deserves high praise for just rolling with it. With Baruchel playing the straight man, it is only Rogen who falls short. He jumps back and forth between straight guy and funny guy, never really settling on either and so never fully developing as a likable character.
Like most wild parties, This is the End is a hugely unbalanced mess, with no real point or logic. But that doesn’t stop it being more fun than a chocolate submarine in an ocean of Ben & Jerry’s. Some films are slow burners, but this is a slow burn-out. From start to finish, it descends very gradually from brilliant to merely good, with a brief hop to ‘great’ just before the end credits. An ideal film to fall asleep to after a few too many drinks
Score: 4/5
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