I will go on record now and say This Is The End has been one of the most laugh out loud films I have seen in a long time. Its bizarre premise, fantastic over-the-top pastiches the leads play and the fistful of cameos that outdo each other throughout the film.
Long time writing collaborators Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, who wrote the brilliant comedies Superbad and Pineapple Express, have taken their hand to directing.
It’s a relatively simple premise: a group of friends have a party and the biblical apocalypse arrives. The thing that makes this hilarious is that it’s about a who’s who of great comedy actors from the last five years, all playing versions of themselves. Much like Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip, Rogen et al play heightened, over the top versions of themselves for brilliant effect. They’re extremely self-deprecating at times and not at all egotistical.
Be it James Franco’s underlying bromance with Rogen, Danny McBride’s biggest-douchebag-award-winning mentality or even Jonah Hill’s overly nice Oscar-nominated persona. Each lead character plays up to an extreme version of their public persona. Another brilliant side to the cast are the cameos, and they don’t come much better than this. From the trailer you would have already seen Michael Cera’s playboy party animal, but this is literally just the tip of the iceberg. In the film’s final half there’s a fantastic cameo that rivals Bill Murray in Zombieland. That said, Emma Watson’s cameo is definitely the flattest. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with it but, up against the lead characters, she really cannot deliver comic quips as easily.
At times it is clear to see both Goldberg and Rogen are first time directors. The film often feels scattershot, with the two possibly throwing everything at us and hoping something sticks. Be this trippy hallucination scenes, sweded film trailers or found footage style confessions. Thankfully though most of it works. The film’s plot does get extremely over the top in the climactic scenes but it’s all for comedy sake. Even when the film is at its most outrageous, it still remains hilarious.
Much like Pineapple Express, this is a group of great comedic actors just doing their thing. Each of the lead characters have proved that they can roll with the funnies in their individual back catalogues and, rather than coming off as overly crowded, they work well together. Throughout the film each of them get several standout moments and all have a different style, which means there’s never any down time. Comedy films of late have become rather bloated in length but This Is The End doesn’t ever feel like it’s getting stagnant and the comedy stays fresh and hilarious throughout.
Overall Verdict: A truly hilarious film from start to finish, for fans of the frat pack, this one cannot be missed!
Reviewer: Gareth Haworth