‘This Is The End’ is a mix of funnies and head-scratchers

This Is The End, Seth Rogan’s apocalyptic comedy, had the potential to carry a Superbad level of sincerity between its estranged lead homies, but instead dwelled in a sea of dick jokes, rape jokes, and ad-libbed bits.

I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing (comedy’s always thrived on pushing the envelope to sometimes extreme distances), but I’d hoped for a truly genuine moment like those found in a Judd Apatow flick. Didn’t happen. That said, seeing a coked-out Michael Cera being awkward in an entirely new way was highly entertaining.

I’m no political correctness flag-waver; in fact, I often find that the PC movement sanitizes issues/society to the point where people are vilified for simply making an observation about race/gender/sexuality. But several curious things came to mind after discussing the movie with my date.

I’m entering spoilers-zone, so tread if you dare.

1. The Emma Watson rape/not-rape joke sequence.  It was just  uncomfortable and creepy.
2. The Jonah Hill rape scene. Plus, we couldn’t decide if he played a gay character, and what that potentially meant when he was sodomized by a demon with an incredibly large penis. A large, black penis. Is the black penis still a sexual boogeyman?
3. The surviving Hollywood jackasses are able to enter heaven by doing one sincere, kind act, which somehow erases their combined decades of shitting upon people. Once in heaven, the crew (now angels) proceed to party and blow weed. There was no sense that the crew became better people.

Don’t mistake these criticisms as an attempt to sully the film. I found it enjoyable overall! Rogen, Robinson, McBride, Baruchel, and Hill have an incredible on-screen chemistry.

And I’m thoroughly convinced that James Franco, after his roles in 30 Rock, Pineapple Express, and now this, was born to play the oddball stoner. He’s just…