The previews before my screening of “This Is the End” included “Grown-Ups 2,” and I’m glad I saw it, otherwise I would’ve assumed Adam Sandler and friends would be making a funny movie to make up for the original dud; now I know otherwise. While that one can be avoided, “This Is the End” should be on everyone’s must-see list.
Most “groups of friends hanging out” movies are mediocre to bad, and thin on material after the early going. Even at their best, a viewer is left a little on the outside, reminded that we’re not part of the group. But, perhaps because so many movies featuring James Franco, Seth Rogen, et al., are sort of “friends hanging out” movies anyway, “This Is the End’s” high concept, where everyone plays “themselves,” is easy to get into. After all, it’s not a revelation to know the real Seth Rogen — we already know him from all his roles.
There’s no trace of Hollywood ego to be found among this group, whose origins can be traced back to 1999’s “Freaks and Geeks,” with Jonah Hill and “Undeclared’s” Jay Baruchel and “The Office’s” Craig Robinson added to the pack later, and with many of the friends teaming up in Judd Apatow movies. Stars with cameos are happy to be the butts of jokes, too. When a giant sinkhole opens up outside Franco’s pad, where he’s throwing a lavish party, Robinson tugs his leg away from a clinging Aziz Ansari, of “Parks and Recreation,” telling him that he’s already in the hole and it’s too late.
Another simple reason why “This Is the End” is better than “Grown-Ups” and its ilk is that it’s funny. Now, granted, it’s only funny if you’re into lowbrow humor to begin with; and certainly, fans of these actors will enjoy it more than non-fans.
There’s nothing like having a mom and her two pre-teen sons sit in front of you at “This Is the End” to make a moviegoer hyper-aware of how many times Danny McBride says “cum” in a scene and to make one feel guilty about one’s uncivilized threshold for humor. (C’mon, people, ratings are there for a reason.) By the way, Franco confronting McBride about how much he masturbates around his house is one of the film’s funniest scenes. And the quintet also manages to make rape hilarious in a conversation held outside a room occupied by Emma Watson, of “Harry Potter” fame. (The ax-wielding Watson and “Arrested Development’s” Michael Cera are two actors who clearly go beyond playing their actual personalities here.)
Even when the film moves into its action and digital-effects-laden final act, it’s still hilarious to see things such as Hill being possessed by a demon, talking in an “Exorcist”-style resonant voice but still speaking in Hill’s sardonic manner (“Jesus compels me, does he? I don’t find him too compelling.”).
The easy humor — from the demon’s giant penis, to the way everyone flinches when Franco recklessly plays with a loaded gun, to Rogen trying to drink his own urine — could’ve added up to a brainless, forgettable film. But the real-world friendship of these five guys (six if you count McBride), their willingness to make fun of themselves and each other, and other actors’ willingness to populate the background, puts “This Is the End” a cut above your standard stupid hang-out comedy. It’s an ego-free comedy about friends that lets moviegoers be their buddies too.
