Comedian du jour Seth Rogan takes on the little used 'stoner-action' genre, throwing in a dash of 80's style buddy-comedy.
Pros:
Pros:
- As those who have seen Knocked Up, Superbad, etc already know, Rogen is pretty damn funny. His quickly-becoming-trademark character is presented here pretty much unchanged, so there are a fair few laughs.
- James Franco is also rather good, and not quite a stereotype, which is nice.
- Love that 'comedy violence'.
- Much like other stoner-comedies (Cheech, Chong et al), I'd imagine this would be substantially more enjoyable when stoned. Actually, I'm not sure if this should be a Pro or a Con...
- Everyone like a story with morals. Morals of this movie include: 'Don't have sex with 17 year-olds if you're 25+' and 'Drug Dealers are people too!'. Again, not too sure if this is a pro or a con.
Cons:
- The entire 'bad guys' element is woefully unfunny. Each actor plays it far too hammy, and though I'm aware this was probably the point, it doesn't make it any less stupid.
- Your basic 'film by numbers', it's so formulaic you can predict virtually everything that happens (except for a classic Rogen moment reminiscent of his response to Katherine Heigl telling him she's pregnant in Knocked Up).
- To waste ninjas in such fashion should be a criminal offence.
- At least a third of the movie (arguably more) is aimed solely at stoners, leaving the non-stoned somewhat alienated.
- I had eerie flashbacks to Eddie Murphy's first career deep throughout, reminding me of movies such as Boomerang, which played only on the strength of a particular persona and didn't have much of a decent movie behind it. Rogen is good, but he alone does not a good movie make.
A noncommittal 'meh' is my conclusion. Rogen would want to be thinking a bit harder before making his next move or he could end up heading towards family-movie obscurity. And James Franco should just generally be seen more (preferably in something other than Spiderman). Don't expect much, unless you happen to be stoned.
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