Seth Rogan's new comedy "This is the End" offers a lot of what we usually expect from him. It stars many people who usually co-star with him like James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Jay Baruchel. The characters take a large amount of drugs. Everyone is at their most vulgar. There is a "buddy" element where characters bond over events. There is the matter one one plot point though: "This is the End" takes place during the apocalypse. Yep. As in full-on, end of the world, apocalypse. It is also the funniest movie of the year and may stay that way.
Jay Baruchel has flown in to visit his friend Seth Rogan in Los Angeles. They have a close friendship as they were both actors growing up in Canada. Soon after getting into town, Rogan takes Baruchel to James Franco's house for a large housewarming party. The party is going pretty well until Baruchel starts feeling as if he doesn't quite belong in the same group of Hollywood stars. Things go especially bad when the world starts to end. Rogan, Baruchel, Franco, and fellow actors Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride need to band together and defeat the various forces of evil to survive "the End of Days".
"This is the End" is easily the funniest movie that has come out in quite some time. The comedy genre has been extremely dried up in the last few years. I can honestly say the last movie I found myself laughing hard at was "Django Unchained" and I would have to go back maybe as far as "Zombieland" to think of the last time before that. "This is the End" has scenes where I was laughing so hard my face and neck hurt. It throws event after event along with cameo after cameo that it completely catches you off-guard. This film is easily one of the most unpredictable comedies ever made. The plot summary above was kept short so as not to spoil anything or anyone that appears. "This is the End" will easily be the film this year that is quoted and has word-of-mouth pulling in .
The cast works so incredibly well with each other, no doubt because they have worked so well in the past. While each actor is playing themselves, they are playing a version of themselves that is grossly different from themselves. Jonah Hill, often thought to be cocky and abrasive, is hilariously nice to everyone around him. On the other hand, Michael Cera, often thought to be rather tame, is presented as a womanizing drug-addict. There are no stand-out performances and nobody steals the show. Every actor pulls in ridiculous laughs and has a few catch-phrases that will no doubt catch on.
There are a few missteps throughout "This is the End". Unfortunately there are three very long comedic sequences that involve either the discussion or the comedic assumption of rape. Rape jokes have not been funny for quite some time. They have been the subject of a large amount of controversy, news articles, and overall agreement that rape jokes are not acceptable. Here, all the humor is delivered by the all-male cast which makes it all the more uncomfortable. These jokes are unnecessary, unfunny, and could have easily been cut from the film. They are the only parts where I saw the audience look genuinely uncomfortable, a feeling that shouldn't arise in a comedy. Had these three scenes been omitted or modified, you would have had a truly great film.
To go on about any of the other plot points in this comedy would do it a great disservice. My recommendation to you is that you try to miss every TV spot and trailer you find. You should stay far away from any cast list as some of the cameos are among the biggest surprises of the film. The missteps aside, we are looking at what will more than likely be the funniest film that comes out this summer.
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