This Is the End

The funniest moment of This Is the End is when Michael Cera smacks Rihanna's ass. The boys had fun with this one. Laughing with them in their “real” presence at dick jokes and sincere critical self-reflection has potential to be cool entertainment, but it would need a more sophisticated screenplay. This seems slapped together spontaneously in one evening and revisited only on the set. Casting is not everything. The penis-demon in the climax and the final song are good. (11/08/2013)

From about half way through this was an improvised commercial for the Bible and MilkyWay, packed with snappy lines. Sumptuous sub-plots and cameos never seen before. Rihanna burns in hellfire, Michael Cera didn’t disappoint for the first time in his life, Hermione has an ax and Tatum delivers another good one this year. Everybody in the main gang rocks, but I rooted for Franco the most. I guffawed loud and frequently. I’m glad they’re doing the sequel to Pineapple Express. (09/17/2013)

A really great premise which made a lot of actors finally look friendlier and more human to me, as they are basically playing themselves. Suddenly, however, there is a brutal apocalypse, which is a meaningless bullshit in all respects and the only thing keeping the movie afloat is a number of pretty brutal catchphrases of the individual actors, who put down and try to best each other. I like the fact that the actors were themselves and that several times they openly made fun of themselves. What I don’t like was that some jokes were pretty unnecessary and over the line. At times I laughed a lot, just to stop laughing afterwards and wait for another catchphrase that would make me happy again. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg came up with a great idea and a lot of the actors convinced me that they are a great group of friends who can make you laugh and that I should definitely reckon with them for the future of America. (09/27/2014)

This is the End is a comedy that is pulled from mediocrity by the actors playing themselves, a large number of parody and WTF scenes, but it is also marred by a number of silly and cheesy sequences that probably couldn't be avoided in a film like this. The best moments were a pretty funny parody of The Exorcist and a heavenly cameo by an unnamed band. In short, a film that satisfies as an average one-off and there is not the slightest need for anyone to ever see it again. (11/14/2014)

A homemade movie by a bunch of friends which was meant to remain undiscovered, the same way as all other homemade movies are. As funny as it sounds on the paper, the realization came out pretty flaky. Rogen and Goldberg should have had the sense not to let themselves stand behind the camera. It all holds together purely thanks to the cast. Everybody, without exception, is clearly having fun. Which is also the reason why I concentrate more on the bonus materials and reviews rather than on the movie itself which, in its humor and style, is on exactly the same wave as everything else that Rogen has written so far. (09/20/2013)