Rating :   73/100                                                                     107 Min       

The latest offering from the new wave of comedy writers, actors and directors that have dominated Hollywood for the last few years, this time all playing parodies of themselves. Jay Baruchel meets up with his old comedy buddy Seth Rogen (they are both Canadian) and they all go to the number one party hangout in L.A. – James Franco’s house. Jay wonders how close he and Rogen really are anymore, but before he can find answers to this and other quasi-existential problems, disaster strikes. An actual disaster, that is, with earthquakes galore and a hefty mortality rate, and North America’s funniest are forced to band together in an effort to survive.

Initially, the first thing that comes to mind in the opening quarter is ‘Shaun of the Dead’ (04), with the mixture of comedy and bloody violence that we are greeted with. Given the team behind that zombie-comedy hit have their new film coming out in a matter of weeks, and that it’s called ‘The World’s End’ with the definite appearance from the trailer of a doomsday scenario, it hardly seems like a coincidence. First out of the blocks then, how does this one perform? Well, once it gets going it’s not long before it establishes its own voice, and it becomes a lot of fun, with good performances from everyone and some nice cameos from the likes of Emma Watson and Michael Cera, and indeed a certain famous band from the nineties, along with a fantastic appearance from Channing Tatum.

Look forward to gory, sweary violence, and, well, everything else you might expect to find at a party held at James Franco’s humble abode….