Okay. First of all, this movie starts out with a young girl singing at a ceremony in North Korea, with lyrics that basically claim their beloved leader to be wise, kind and that they wish him joy. She then goes from 0-100 real quick and says she “wishes for the US to explode in a ball of fiery hell” and “may they be forced to starve and beg and be ravaged by disease.”
At this point, all I could think was “where the hell is her mother?” but then she sung that “they are arrogant and fat” and truthfully, I laughed a lot a little. Tears of fear began to form however, when she ended her song with “may your women be raped by the beasts of the jungle, while your children are forced to watch.” And then a missile was launched to America… uhm mom, can you pick me up? I’m scared…. (Mean Girls reference for those who live under a rock)
So that’s the first 5 minutes of the movie. And you better believe I knew I’d be in it for the long haul (1 hour and 50 minutes to be exact).
The next scene is James Franco (playing Dave Skylark) interviewing Eminem and uncovering that Eminem’s gay?? I’m le confused at this point (I also don’t think Eminem’s actually gay, but way to be a team player Em).
After I let the movie roll, I realized he and Seth Rogan (playing Aaron Rapoport) run a tabloid TV show (like Access Hollywood) and are both journalists. Seth realizes he’s unhappy with their lame content, conveniently they discover that Kim Jong Un loves their TV show, so they then reach out hoping to interview him. (To legitimize their journalism careers. DUH!)
[side bar: I don’t know why I keep using Seth and James instead of their character names. Maybe because there’s so many celebrity cameos that this doesn’t seem like a movie.]
[side bar 2: this also isn’t Politics 101. If you don’t know who Kim Jon Un is, use your phone for something useful and catch up.]
SPOILER ALERT: An interview is set up! Seth and James have to make their way to North Eastern China to discuss the details. (Why China and not North Korea though?)
When James announces he will be interviewing Kim Jon Un, all the other parody talk shows start making fun of him. James and Seth go back and forth justifying themselves, to themselves…
“he’s motherfuckin peanut butter and jealous”
“they hate us cause they aint us”
“no, they hate us cause we is us, and what we is, is fucking terrible”
Surprise: Then James Franco puts a pill in Seth’s mouth, and it’s the “strongest ecstasy he’s ever done in his life.” For the record, Seth had no idea that that’s what James had put in his mouth. (A typical Tuesday night for these two)
It quite funny, and if you only make it this far in the movie, you’ll at least be in hysterics.
SPOILER ALERT: after their wild party night on the strongest ecstasy James has ever done, the CIA knocks on their door and assigns the two to kill the dictator, aka Kim Jon Un, while away on their “business trip.”
The rest of the movie is the classic Seth and James characters you want to see; reckless behaviour, crude humour, awkward human interaction, clueless when using weapons and an array of foreseeable problems.
This movie is not a history lesson so take it with a grain of salt. It was entertaining and did bring some political and social issues to light in a humours way. PLUS James Franco carries a puppy around for the last quarter of the movie while in an over-the-top a dramatic battle with Kim Jon Un’s people WHILE LISTENING TO KATY PERRY, who doesn’t want to watch that?
The movie not only criticized North Korea ,their dog eating “cuisine” and their government, but it also analyzed the media and how it affects people in America. It’s a good flick, it’s debatable and it’s entertaining.
Worth the watch!
Spoiler Alert 