Review by Bob Ignizio
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the
writing team responsible for the extremely funny films SUPERBAD
and PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
(and who were also responsible for the extremely unfunny films THE
GREEN HORNET and THE
WATCH) have decided to apply
their talents to the goal of finding the laughs in Armageddon with
THIS IS THE END. The
film is based on a short Rogen and Goldberg co-wrote with Jay Stone
back in 2007, and as in that earlier film Rogen and his Undeclared
co-star
Jay Baruchel are two of the poor souls “left behind” when the
rapture takes place and all the good people get lifted into Heaven.
Also left behind to suffer the torments of Hell on Earth are some of
the other Hollywood types Rogen calls friends, including James
Franco, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Danny McBride, and
Emma Watson.
Everyone plays
themselves as petty if not downright horrible, and the film gets a
lot of mileage out of its mix of self deprecating humor and gross-out
gags. Rogen certainly doesn't spare himself, even including an
obvious but nonetheless funny joke about how it's nothing new that
he's playing himself, since that's essentially what he does in all
his movies. Most of the laughs are considerably less cerebral than
that, however, with more than the mandatory minimum of masturbation,
drug, and dick jokes.
THIS IS THE END
is directed by Rogen and Goldberg themselves, their first time doing
so, and they prove themselves more than capable of the task. As in
the better films the duo have written, they manage to strike a good
balance between comedy and more substantive emotional issues. They
also do a better including action film elements here than David
Gordon Green did when with PINEAPPLE EXPRESS.
It's difficult to find the right balance of tone in a movie like
this, but Rogen and Goldberg manage it deftly, never letting the
horror get in the way of a good laugh while at the same time managing
not to undermine the film's more serious moments.
There
are a few minor missteps – for example, Cera is funny, but it also
feels a bit too much like he's doing the Neil Patrick Harris in
HAROLD AND KUMAR
thing, and after what would have been a great ending, the movie keeps
going with one of those apparently obligatory song and dance finales.
And let's face it, for some people the jokes are going to be too
crass, while for others the idea of making jokes about what to them
is a very real religious belief just isn't going to fly. For the rest
of us, though, this is an extremely funny film that, even stripped of
its jokes, would still work pretty well as a straight-up end of the
world flick. Bonus points for the ROSEMARY'S BABY
joke and for Channing Tatum's cameo appearance. 3 1/2 out of 4 stars.
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