Viewed in
2013
Formats
Movie theater.
Premise
While attending a party at James Franco's house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and many other celebrities are faced with the apocalypse.
Loved
Craig Robinson screaming, Kenny-effing-Powers.
Liked
Non-stop low-brow silliness/grossness.
Thoughts
What you see is what you get. And for the most part, I laughed at what I saw.
If you're in the mood for seeing the Judd Apatow stable play exaggerated asshole versions of themselves, getting into sophomoric situations, well-endowed CGI demons, scenes that were probably funnier when the audience is high, idiotic characters bumbling their way through the rapture, and generous talk/visuals of bodily fluids of every kind, then you will have a good time.
Of the ensemble, Craig Robinson's girly screams and Danny McBride's Kenny Powering definitely stole the show. Folks unfamiliar with this group of actors probably wouldn't find all the inside jokes amusing (I see you, Your Highness slam).
Overall, I enjoyed This is The End for its unabashed stupidity, juvenile sense of humor, and game performances from Robinson and McBride.
Random
I really didn't expect to think too critically of a movie that shows a hellspawn that puts Dr. Manhattan's member to shame, but two thoughts about comedy at this point in American pop culture:
Grantland's "Girl in Hoodies" podcast had a fascinating discussion about rape jokes, which was prevalent in This is The End. A male character is butt-raped by a demon, and a female survivor "mishears" a bunch of males talk about taking advantage of her.
I'm very much in the camp of anything goes as long as it's creative and funny. However, recently, there's been a fervent debate if/when rape jokes are valid/funny/misogynistic/misused. Mix in the current context of cyber-bullying and trolling, and it's really dicey. Most movies are geared towards men, but when female audience members don't feel safe, it's something to think about. I don't have anything revelatory epiphanies to spout, but the awareness did make me think twice about those two semi-uncomfortable scenes (along with a few indirectly rapey jokes).
Secondly, by coincidence, the Supreme Court's striking down DOMA occurred around the same time of watching this movie, which included plenty of "dudes touching dudes is icky" gags. I admit, I still laughed at those moments, some were genuinely funny playing off the discomfort of the characters. But are we hitting a critical mass on these jokes? Should we be laughing, when it's probably lazy writing? Should we accept such kind of jokes to permeate to this amount? After all, I doubt gays guffaw uncontrollably when a guy and girl accidentally touch each other onscreen. Again, I'm not sure if there's an answer, but I think I'm tired of writers going to the same well.
So yeah... penis penis penis!
