This is the End

I was unsure how my usual love of all things post-apocalypse would fare against my general dislike of stoner comedies, and after seeing what is possibly the very first movie ever to be both simultaneously, I would have to say it's a decidedly mixed bag.

Just about every comedic actor between the ages of 20 and 40 is in this movie with at least some sort of cameo, playing themselves as attendees to a party at James Franco's house during the Apocalypse.  Michael Cera plays the opposite of his usual innocent screen self, an over the top caricature of pretty much every negative trait you can imagine, all 7 deadly sins rolled up into one, with a few others that should probably be added to the list.  Jonah Hill plays the nicest guy you've ever met, but also manages to be not a particularly good or likable guy without any sense of contradiction.  His eventual possession by a demon makes for some entertaining watching.  Aziz Ansari has about 20 seconds of screen time, before getting swallowed up by a pithole from Hell; Jason Segel is more or less wasted as part of the scenery, as is the talented Mindy Kaling, among others.

The characters are unlikable, vain, venal, self-absorbed, self-congratulatory.  This is by design, a major part of the comedy Seth Rogen and his team have constructed here--a self-referential mockery of Hollywood culture in all its smug self-importance and triviality.  But it's a satire that also glorifies what it condemns, making the party setting and stars seem glamorous even as they are playfully taken to task for their hedonism.  This attempt to have it both ways makes the film muddled in its feel and message.

Shallow character revelations mix with pop-ethics and pop-theology, giving the whole venture an unsatisfying and unreal feel.  While it is only a comedy, and one which takes itself none too seriously, characters we can care about and like are nice in any genre.  Can an entire film be fueled by Schadenfreude at watching bad things happen to unlikable people?

That being said, there are a few moments which standout.  The couple scenes with Emma Watson are some of the funniest in the movie and make up for a number of other misfires.  While the schtick of actors playing fictional versions of themselves starts to wear thin at times, there are some amusing moments like when Rogen walks through an airport bashfully ignoring the obnoxious paparazzi hounding his steps.  Unfortunately this scene comes at the very beginning and by then end you're starting to wonder if maybe Hollywood shouldn't be swallowed up and stomped on by demons.  Okay, Jonah Hill and Emma Watson should be raptured up out of there, but for the others if this is the best you can do, Sayonara!

Grade:  B-