I think the first thing that should be mentioned about this film is that if you aren't a fan of these actors and their previous work, this film certainly isn't for you. I've had people asking me whether they would like it or not when they didn't like previous films such as Pineapple Express, Knocked Up, Superbad etc and This is the End follows that exact style of comedy yet again. For me, this was the perfect comedy as I loved all of the actors that the story centered around including their previous work and the type of comedy that they consistently go for so I was certainly not let down because it is what it says on the tin.
To get a little more in depth with the film, I will start with the writing. Now for a comedy, this is the department that is going to be the most heavily judged because a comedy has to be funny which comes from the writing, otherwise it has failed at carrying out its job. I can safely say this film is extremely hilarious and is one of few films that I've ever watched that has had me constantly laughing from start to finish. Gag after gag is included and I would honestly say that about 95% of the material that was included had me laughing which is an unbelievable percentage. That pretty much says to you how much I liked this film and how well written it was. Rogen and Goldberg as well as co-directing the picture both co-wrote it too and it definitely shows as their subtle touches and implementations can be clearly depicted from the film throughout.
As well as heavily laughing throughout the 1 hour 47 minute running time, I sat there with a huge smile on my face. I had an absolute blast with the film and I can definitely say it's both one of the best cinema experiences I've had in many years as well as one of the funniest comedies I've seen in years. This is a credit to just everyone involved as these returning actors and crew hit home yet again with an entertaining roller coaster ride of laughter.
An aspect of not necessarily the writing, but the dialogue in the film that audience's could have a problem with is the improvisation used. Now I'm sure most who watch these films know that many of the scenes, even some of the higher regarded ones between fans are heavily improvised which makes us love these films even more because of the actors being naturally funny rather than just having a good delivery of the lines that are put in front of them. There are many moments in this film that I could pin point as being improvised and while like I said, I have no problem with this because I find it to actually enhance some scenes but I could see why people may not enjoy it as much or at all. It's more just a heads up if you haven't seen the film, it's quite noticeable in some scenes but I thought it completely worked and I don't mind the sort of thing if it's done well anyway so I lapped it up.
The amount of pop culture references and gags poking fun at bad films/acting that some of these actors had done was genius. Now I'm not saying it's not been done before but when you stick 6 actors that many of us love and find hilarious, in a house condemned inside by the apocalypse and have them rip on each other for that it was just completely brilliant and I loved every time that one of them mentioned it. It was an aspect that could have easily flopped and let the film down massively but it was done in such a way that it didn't feel like it was being shoehorned into the film and was something that the actors would rip on each other for in real life.
Acting is always a bare essential that needs to be picked upon within a film review and I would say more so in this film is it essential to the film working. Each one of these guys from Seth Rogen right down to Danny McBride is outrageously funny and they are an absolute pleasure to watch on screen. I honestly was upset when the film ended because the whole experience seemed to fly by so fast going through the situations that these characters were and laughing every step of the way. To break it down, these actors were playing exaggerated versions of themselves within an apocalyptic environment. All of their deliveries were great, their over the top reactions to events and just the general way they approached what was expected of them was really well done. This was another thing that if done wrong, could have completely tarnished whether the film was good or not. Having the actors seem too extreme and their performances as themselves a little too outrageous then the whole film would have bombed but thankfully this wasn't the case.
The last thing I will say is that if you've seen the trailer or the film itself, there was A LOT of special effects used. It's expected of course being an end of the world type film but for a comedy of a budget of around $30 million, I thought they did a really good job. For the most part, the effects of the destruction of Los Angeles looked good which for a comedy you wouldn't necessarily hang all your hopes on but it does help immerse you more into the film which I can appreciate that effort went into this department. On the other hand, I have to say that some of them including the demon/monsters that were roaming the streets looked terrible. Whether this was intentional or not, which I would say it was, it was absolutely hysterical and I would more than bet that this was the effect they were going for but even if it wasn't; it was insanely funny and worked for the film yet again.
Overall, This is the End is without doubt one of the funniest films that I've seen in years and not for one second was I surprised that this was the outcome I left with. The trailers, footage, news and information about the film all had the potential to achieve this goal and for me, I have to say it certainly did. I highly recommend watching this film with a group of friends at the cinema because you'll get a bundle of laughs, have a great time and get to see a film that you'll most certainly remember for a long time to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment