Review of This Is the End (2013) by Hoops2448 — 08 Jul 2013

After so many Seth Rogen ensemble comedies it was inevitable that the jokes would be harder to come by and harder to land, I mean there are only so many Danny McBride rants you can take before you have to slam Up in the Air in the DVD drive just so you can see him do something different for a change.

This is the End tells the story of what happens when Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen go to a house party at James Franco's house and the apocalypse begins leaving them, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride to fend for themselves and try to make it out alive.

It's a clever concept as it allows real laughs while exploring everything meta comedy has to offer which turns out isn't a lot. The central joke that these people really exist an its funny to watch them do despicable things gets old really fast (except for the unveiling of a gimp at the end, that's hilarious).

The idea of six celebrities trying to survive a horrible event is interesting but they do so by hiding away in the same building for almost the entire movie making for a very slow moving comedy. The film relies upon lengthy set ups to pretty regular material so there are long boring sequences to struggle through.

That being said the last 30 minutes are fun, fast paced and exciting because there is actual momentum. The film suffers from bad plotting and never really recovers but it's worth watching for some surprisingly well directed action and a few genuinely laugh out loud moments.