You don't go into a film like This is the Endexpecting a masterpiece. It's clear from the trailer that the film's only ambition is to make us laugh, and knowing these guys' previous work, they'll do so in the most offensive, raunchy, and uncomfortable way possible.
I do love the idea of Seth Rogen, James Franco, and company playing themselves in this the end of the world comedy. But while I like their more serious films, to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of their previous comedies. Your Highness rubbed me the wrong way, and while I enjoyed Pineapple Express, I didn't love it. That being said, I laughed more during This is the End than in both of those movies combined. These guys have great chemistry together, and watching them play themselves is a lot of fun. The only guy I didn't recognize was Jay Baruchel. He's definitely the outsider in this group, an awkward wallflower who would rather just hang out with his friend, Seth, but instead gets dragged to Franco's party. Their friendship is a main part of the story, but it does get lost in the insanity that erupts around them.
Danny McBride has never been a favorite of mine. The roles he takes always seem to rely too heavily on the raunch for my tastes. But his entrance into This is the End is pretty great, from the first shot of him waking up, through the breakfast scene where it looks like he's holding court. I can't pin all the film's raunchiness on McBride, but he definitely is a part of the film's more outrageous conversations.
The dynamics between the guys keep the movie going more than the plot does. This is the End has a lot of funny conversations, but none of them are explored for a particularly long time. From Franco's explanation of art to Jonah Hill's new dog, the stories are all amusing, but they come and go so quickly they play more like silly anecdotes. It's a shame the trailers gave away so many of the good scenes. I felt like I had laughed at a lot of the movie prior to seeing it, and though moments like the inventory scene are longer in the film, the initial punch of the gag is lost.
Being funny is one thing, but when a comedy can be clever and do something new, that bumps it up a bit in my book. There's a scene where a decapitated head is getting kicked around and half the shots are from the head's point of view. I really appreciated seeing the film trying something different with the camera. Speaking of cameras, the boys do some talking to a hand held camera, along the lines of reality show confessionals. The camera they use is the same camera Franco used in 127 hours, apparently he likes to keep his props. There's a lot of great film references like that throughout. The boys even end up making a film within the film, which is quite funny, and has Jonah Hill playing Woody Harrelson.
There is a religious aspect to the film that if you tried to dig into you'd come up empty. The theology goes as deep as Franco comparing the holy trinity to Neapolitan ice cream. So if you're thinking about taking your Bible study group to This is the End, I would strongly advise against it. Also if you're easily offended by anything, avoid this film. This is the End earns its R rating and then some.
This is the End has some great detail work, from its excellent creature design to the little things, like the image of Franco in bed with his sleep mask and revolver. And noticing the little touches like Craig's monkey flashlight keychain named Terrence Peterson (Terry Pete!) shows a level of detail that will make the movie rewatchable, at least until the apocalypse.
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