Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Emma Watson, Michael Cera.
Rated: R. Action/Comedy. Running Time: 1 hour 47 minutes.
Wow. Gratuitous cock shots. Celebrity drug use. Ridiculously bawdy humor. It’s like Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg somehow got the combination to the safe containing my dream movie. The last comedy that had the feeling of an early Christmas just for Maria was Step Brothers. That being said…if you’re not a fan of watching witty celebs get fucked up and make lots of jizz jokes, you should most likely skip this feature. There are countless mentions of dicks, butt holes, cocaine, ecstasy, weed and jerking off. But what else do you expect? It’s an R rated comedy about the apocalypse featuring the dudes listed above. I on the other hand profusely enjoyed myself and laughed to the point of crying. This original film was Worlds away from anything I’ve ever seen. And the entire story is so ludicrous, but laced with moments of true sincerity. This is how these guys really talk to each other…it’s just an exaggerated version.
Let’s be clear, full frontal male schlong is big these days. Magic Mike, Da Vinci’s Demons, Game of Thrones, Michael Fassbender in Shame; the “member” list goes on and on. No one, however, has shown demon dick like This Is The End. I’m talking about a two hundred foot tall, burning, horned devil with a major swinger. Also, since the turn of the century, no subject has been more popular at the movies than end of days. Whether it’s zombies, plagues, aliens, natural disasters, meteors or good old-fashioned bible shit, Hollywood loves to kill, or attempt to kill the planet. But nobody has ever seen or done anything like This Is The End. That the entire ensemble are all playing versions of themselves is incredibly original. The humor is exactly at the level of raunchiness you would expect from this group and it is at times hilarious, but there is also an extremely hard edge injected into the mix that is unexpected and to me at least; a touch disconcerting. Definitely not enough for me not to have enjoyed myself thoroughly, just a bit of seat squirming. Like Maria alluded to, if you can’t handle or don’t like serious off color humor, drug use and blood, you should probably skip it. For the rest, go see This Is the End, Michael Cera’s performance alone is worth the price of admission!
Cera is fantastic. And it’s really funny because we’ve been watching all the old Arrested Development episodes and he still has such a baby face! I found this movie incredibly entertaining. I was captivated by what would happen next and what the characters might say. It would be a daunting task to name all of the cameos that occur, but there are some very memorable ones! If you’re debating whether to wait for this one on DVD or go to the theatre, I strongly suggest catching it on the big screen. It makes a lasting impression and still has me giggling days later.
Just a few other performances of note. Emma Watson is very un-Hermione like. James Franco does a perfect…well, James Franco. Danny McBride is deliciously vile. And finally, keep an eye out for a brief but very brave and stomach turning appearance by Channing Tatum. All I can think to say is: eww!!
Maria’s Rating: 4.5 Gummy Bears out of 5.
Ross’ Rating: 3.75 Gummies.