This Is the End (Film Review)

Could This Is the End be a contender for funniest film of 2013; I certainly think so.  I haven’t laughed this hard at a movie in a long time!  I mean the humor, jokes, and comedic situations were non-stop; the cast were well picked and each did a terrific job.  And despite it being done so many times over the past decade, the plot involving the rapture/apocalypse felt both refreshing and such a delightful to view.  Yet even with all the great entertainment piled into it, This Is the End finds time throughout its hilarity to invoke emotion and ultimately have a heart in the center. 

The story goes that Jay Baruchel (played by…Jay Baruchel) arrives in Los Angeles to visit his friend Seth Rogen (played by…Seth Rogen) who have been distancing from each other recently.  To try and savage their friendship, Seth takes Jay to a party in order for Jay to get better acquainted with Seth’s other celebrity friends such as James Franco (played by…yeah by now you probably guessed all the actors and actresses are playing fictionalized versions of themselves; a pretty interesting idea).  Yeah all of a sudden blue lights descend upon people making them disappear, and the world (literally) goes to hell!  Jay, Seth and several other party survivors use Franco’s house as a fortress and try to survive what just might be, the apocalypse.

So without further ado I bring you the best aspect of the movie; the comedy.  I’m really unsure if I can explain in detail just how fantastically funny this movie was to me.  The humor genres in This is the End are vast and everywhere; we got situational comedy, black comedy, raunchy comedy, physical comedy, comedy horror, observational comedy, religious comedy, character comedy, stoner comedy, Meta comedy, and even some tragicomedy…and it’s all funny!  Not only is it all funny, but it’s also consistent.  The movie keeps on throwing different jokes and puns every minute, allowing the film’s comedy to have a refreshing feel that never feel stale or overused.  Halfway through the film my jaw began to hurt from how much I was laughing (it got to the point where my laugh became a high-pitch squeal)!  What truly helped make these different styles of comedy work constantly though was the large variety of cast found in this film.

This Is the End’s large cast is a double win as it allows for many different actors/actresses to effectively deliver their own style of comedy (adding to the film’s constant energy and freshness) and also amuse the audience with how many stars they can fit in one film; much like the 1963 film It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.  The twist here is that each character is playing a self-satirizing version of their real life selves; something that the film’s cast takes full advantage of.  Many of the actors look like they’re having a blast playing themselves, taking jabs at themselves, the other cast members, and their former films (many of them have acted with each other in previous films and satirize this with humorous effectiveness; i.e. the survivors making a home movie sequel to Pineapple Express). 

This Is the End’s main cast was well picked, and gives us one heck of a show with Seth Rogen being his usual hilarious self, Jonah Hill playing a great self-parody, and Craig Robinson being the surprise breakout character containing some of the best lines.  But even the smaller roles offer their own unique and memorable performances.  Michael Cera for example, has only a few short scenes at the beginning of the film, yet gives some of the funniest scenes and is memorable even after the film ends an hour or so later.  Another surprise cameo only lasted about a few seconds near the end of the film, yet was able to get a huge laugh out of myself and the rest of the audience.  Even after this the film didn't end there with its surprise cameos; giving one last surprising, awesome shocker at the very end.  Both the small roles and the larger one are spectacularly memorable and wonderfully amusing additions to the overall film.  However it’s not only the comedy and cast the movie does right; as with every comedy trifecta, it’s the heart and (pardon my cliché), soul of the movie that brings This Is the End all together.

It’s my belief that for every comedy (with the occasional exception) to become a great comedy, it must contain some human/character development that allows the audience to care and root for the cast; creating more humor as an additional bonus.  Films like Life of Brian, Animal House, Space Balls, and even more recent films like Superbad and Tucker &Dale vs Evil are all (in my opinion) hilarious films in their own right.  Yet deep down, each have character development and a certain humanity to them (such as Brian’s tragic life, Darth Helmet’s lovable idiocy, Seth and Evan’s friendship) that allows the audience to become engrossed even further by the story; making the jokes and gags better as they apply to the character(s) the audience like or are rooting for.  For example, the animated film Shrek from my own far away perspective is a funny film, but not entirely hilarious.  Yet because the film develops these characters, their actions, bonds, motives, strengths, and weaknesses, I become more engrossed in their adventures; and as such react much more positively (laughing harder) to the jokes surrounding them than I would have if the development was skipped instead.  It’s like seeing a complete stranger step in a puddle of water vs. seeing your grouchy friend do it; while the stranger version might get a chuckle out of you, seeing the grouchy friend’s reaction is a much more satisfying event.

This Is the End also understands this, and despite having constant humor finds time to develop its main characters so that by the end we truly want to see them succeed.  Well actually I take it back; it’s with the use of comedy to their advantage that they develop the main characters.  They wisely use the situations and in-between laughs to make the characters develop with each other and for the audience.  A smart choice seeing as the humor warms the audience up to them and their likable personalities/bonding seals the deal.  There was a scene where it looked like they were going to kill off Craig Robinson early on, and I got worried since he was both a funny and a likable character I had grown fond of.  When it turned out he was still alive I sighed in relief; to me that’s a good sign of an effective comedy when it makes you care about what will happen to their characters.

Literally what else can I say about this film; it’s funny, it’s funny, it’s funny!  The large cast is funny, likable, and memorable; and makes an overused story plot into a creative thrill ride.  With these aspects comes the heart of the film which gives This is the End extra feeling to it that makes the ending all so satisfying.  And it’s when great comedy is combined with a great cast and given a plot driven core that you find you got yourself one great comedy film.