We wouldn’t normally review any given Seth Rogen movie on this website, but given the international controversy surrounding it, we nevertheless want to let you all know what we thought of it. The Interview was famously pulled from release by Sony after alleged threats and cyber attacks made it politically delicate to release it. Now North Korea has made some vague threats about half a year ago when the first trailer came out, but to this day, if you follow more than just the tabloid news, it is entirely unclear who’s behind the cyber attacks. I am not going much more into this, but I know enough about cyber warfare to tell you that finding the origins if one, is not super easy. The other thing being, now that it is out, it is quite likely that it was indeed a marketing stunt – albeit one that possibly got just a wee bit out of hand maybe.
Sony announced yesterday that the movie will be released across the United States on independent screens, and today Google announced a deal with Sony that effective this morning puts The Interview online for rent or purchase on YouTube and Google Play (both for US users only, there is heavy trickery involved if you want to purchase it from anywhere else). So while others are at early mass today, I sat down and watched it, to see if it was worth the cyberwar. For some reason it is so far rating well on IMDb, but I am sure it will go down.
THE FURIOUSLY SHORT REVIEW OF “THE INTERVIEW” (2014):
“A talk show host and his producer get invited to North Korea to do a live interview with the elusive Kim Jong Un. The two are quickly tasked by the CIA to take him out. Needless to say, the mission goes terribly wrong, yet they manage to pull off an unlikely plan B.
While the premise is promising, the production value high and some of the scenes outright outrageous, the movie is far removed from a Pineapple Express or anything of Judd Apatow caliber. Neither is the movie consistently funny, nor is it controversial enough in substance to warrant the fuss that has been made about it. I want to say I had good fun watching it, and I can honestly recommend seeing it, however it is by no means any kind of outstanding motion picture experience. It would have benefited from either more trashiness or just way more hilarity. C”
Feel free to watch it on YouTube below (you will be asked to purchase a rental or keep). The other option is to find it on GooglePlay, or head to an independent movie theater of your choice, for example a Drafthouse cinema.
