Rating: 4/5
Director: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Year: 2013
After reading a feature in Total Film magazine about an upcoming film focusing on various post Apatow celebrities and how they would deal with the apocalypse, I was genuinely excited. Having been in love with Judd Apatow’s graduates including Seth Rogen, Jason Segel et al since Freaks and Geeks, Superbad and Knocked Up, this was the factor that attracted me the most. The other was the mystery, the audience knew very little about the plot; only that a party was being thrown at James Franco’s house and the famous celebrities are faced with the apocalypse. I had many questions in my mind before seeing this film including how the world would end, the running plot strands of the film and who would or wouldn’t survive.
This
is the End is a remake of a short film Jay and Seth versus the apocalypse. I
absolutely loved the opening of the film as immediately we are introduced to
two characters, Jay and Seth. Seth lives in LA and is picking his friend Jay up
from the airport, who doesn’t like LA and instantly I knew this film was going
to centre on their friendship. Seth feeling bored wants to take Jay out for the
night and so convinces him to go to a party in his good friend James Franco’s
house. There we see various famous faces including Rihanna, Mindy Kaling, Aziz
Ansari, Martin Starr, Jason Segel and Paul Rudd. The face that stood out the
most to me was of course Michael Cera. I was blown away with his performance as
Scott Pilgrim in Scott Pilgrim VS the World, and in every scene that he appeared
in this film he stole it. I doubt I’ll ever be able to look at this actor in
the same way again. After the ‘disaster’ scene, where a sink hole opens up
outside Franco’s house and swallows plenty of guests, we are left with five
main characters: Seth, Jay, James, Jonah and Craig who all take refuge inside
Franco’s house to await out the end of the world. Danny McBride later joins in
the fun, however after eating most of their food and ‘enjoying’ himself with
James’ magazines gets kicked out. As the food and water dwindles, so do the
celebs, with some going to heaven we are left wondering what fate has in store
for Jay and Seth.
I
really liked this film and did not stop laughing throughout. I felt that it was
really well written. Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen know comedy and have a
special talent for writing comedies for the younger generation. I seen this
film with my fiancé opening week and immediately wanted to see it again.
The toilet humour and slapstick jokes are not for everyone, however it is a wild
ride and I found myself watching the film and constantly thinking what could
possibly happen next? That is what I liked overall, having no idea of what
twist or turn was in store. If you liked the 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad etc
then you will like this film. It isn’t supposed to be taken seriously and can
be considered as a bit over the top, but I think its all part of the fun and
those involved in the film look like they are having the time of their life.
