This Is the End

watched: September 18, 2013

rating: 3.5

duration: 1:46:41

genre: Comedy

“effortless laughter from comedy actors who made little effort”

It’s relatively new to me to see a film where most of the actors play as themselves on screen. So when I watched This is the End I thought it was a novel approach to a comedic drivel. I know many people find it trash, but there’s good trash, the one you can still find some use from. With cameos from Paul Rudd, Michael Cera, Rihanna, Jason Segel, and Channing Tatum, I am pretty convinced I couldn’t let this movie pass

Channing Tatum: “I love him”

The CONS

Admittedly, the jokes were lame. Not that jokes on this type of movie had to be deep, but they have to at least solicit some form of analyzing before you figure out how funny the punch line was. Hey, there wasn’t any punch line at all on most of the gags. It went straight to eliciting laughter purely on the merit of the statement being supposedly funny. Well, I wouldn’t expect much from a movie where actors looked like they’re just shooting off from their backyard using a handheld camera

Another con, they killed likeable characters like Michael Cera and Paul Rudd way too early. Seth Rogen, James Franco, et al seemed like they’re really likeable and are going along well in the flow of the story, but I would have wanted to see more of Rudd and Cera doing some comic relief

And one last con for the road… the Backstreet Boys “sing and dance off” on the end scene. I didn’t know Hollywood would take the route of employing the cheap trick of making movie characters dance in unison. I would have accepted it if it were a Joey De Leon movie and people would automatically sing and dance even if they are on the beach. But this is a Hollywood film, and I would even be more tolerant if there’s a hint of Bollywood to promote the merry-making, but there’s none

The PROS

The all star cast worked for me. I thought each cast is hilarious on their own, individually. Sex jokes are funny, but sex jokes of celebrities making fun of themselves are way funnier. When they were sharing secrets of bad things they did in the past, I laughed really hard when James Franco shared that he did Lindsay Lohan. Thought that was an awesome joke to be delivered from the perspective of James Franco playing as James Franco onscreen and from the perspective of James Franco being just James Franco, off cam

James Franco: “I f***ed Lindsay Lohan”

I know the bad reviews spewed from unmet expectations and disappointments. But really, what else can you expect from this kind of film? It is obviously targeted to an audience who just  wanted pure, unadulterated entertainment and fun; and the movie has effortlessly done just that, delivering pure entertainment value from big shot actors who are making complete wackos of themselves

VERDICT: rating is 3.5 out of 5. It is no Oscar contender, but you’re sure to get a good laugh out of it. Make sure you walk out as soon as you hear “Everybody” playing on the background