MY THOUGHTS ON: THIS IS THE END

There are many movies I'm looking forward to this summer, and two of them just so happened to come out this week. Of course, one of those films is The Man of Steel, the other is This Is The End, a film I have been waiting for since the day I saw the first trailer. It's a film that has that random, sarcastic, raunchy humor which I find particularly funny, and if you've liked any of the films in the Evan Goldberg or Judd Apatow pantheon, you'll like This Is The End.

Like most movies, This Is The End starts out normal enough; we get a glimpse into the daily lives of our two main characters, Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen, played by Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen, respectively. This is one of the more gimmicky quirks about this film- the actors play caricatures of themselves, basing these characterizations off of stereotyped ideas of each actor's identity in pop-culture. This adds a wittiness to the film as well as a wealth of Easter eggs and inside jokes for the cast's long time fans; there's something very fun about Seth Rogen being called out on the disappointing Green Hornet film in a Seth Rogen movie.

After a few scenes that allow us to get acquainted with Jay and Seth, we are taken to the film's primary backdrop, James Franco's house in Hollywood, for a party to celebrate the completion of the actor's home which is punctuated by several cameos and a truly obnoxious (but hilarious) Michael Cera. The film also takes a moment here to set up the film's primary conflict between Jay and Seth, and leads us to the first moments of the movie's version of Doomsday.

Now barricaded in James Franco's house as Los Angeles burns around them, Seth, Jay, and James are joined by Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill and Danny McBride and must try to survive the devastation and figure out what exactly is happening to the world outside. As the characters try to wait out Armageddon, we get some seriously funny moments such as Craig Robinson's confession that drinking your own pee isn't so bad, James and Franco's bromance taken to ridiculous levels and an impromptu sequel to Pineapple Express.

Since I really do want you to watch the film, I'm not going to be revealing anything further about the films, and will just be talking about what I liked about it\ from here on. There probably is a good deal of bias here, since I'm a big fan of Seth Rogen, but at least you can say I'm being honest. Really, this film could have been obnoxiously bad; it's Rogen and Evan Goldberg's first directorial gig and the film could have just tried to run off the strength of in jokes about the group's past movies, but we do get more than that with This Is The End. The characters all shine through with that realistic dialogue and delivery they're all known for, making them easy to relate to and see as just a bunch of normal friends stuck in a really abnormal situation. Of course, there's plenty of pot culture humor through out the film, but not as much as I was actually expecting based off of the trailer.

If you've seen Superbad, Pineapple Express, or The 40-Year-Old Virgin, then you'll know the type of feeling that This Is The End will have and you'll probably know whether this is your type of comedy or not. The humor is dark and raunchy, and there are no off-limits topics, so if you're easily offended or may not be able to take a jab on certain topics, this may not be the film for you, but if you are the type who still finds fart and boob jokes funny or even if you're a fan of The Hangover series, you'll be in for a good time.

I also really liked the musical selections for the film, some of the best scenes feature unconventional use of songs I wouldn't have expected, especially during the film's climax which added and element of both triumph and comedy. I was also pleased to see that despite the comedic theme of the film, there were some scenes that delivered genuine horror and scares. Seriously, if Danny McBride is anything like his counterpart in the movie in real life, he is not to be trusted. The film wasn't quite perfect, though, and it did drag in some areas and was overall pretty predictable in terms of plot. There was a scene or two where the picture quality appeared grainy and some of the visual effects came across unrefined, but over all these are minor nitpicks and pretty easily missed if you're not looking for them.

To sum it all up, I really enjoyed this movie alot and will definitely be picking up the Bluray upon release. While the humor isn't for everyone (certainly not for children or prudes), if funny people doing funny things is something you like, then I will highly recommend This Is The End for you and hope you can laugh as much as I did at the end of the world.