The Interview, the movie that caused threats to national security and cyber terrorist attacks, was nothing more than a harmless, zany, over-the-top comedy. Major movie chains across the US such as Arclight, Regal and AMC pulled the movie from their screens days before the release because of potential threats and because Sony announced it would not be screening the movie.

The numerous threats from unidentified sources, and the cyber-attacks on Sony contributed to the cancellation of the much anticipated comedy that was scheduled to come out on Christmas Day. Although they had originally decided not to release the movie in major theaters, Sony released the movie in small independent theaters and it was made available for rent or purchase from online businesses such as Google Play, Amazon, and Youtube.

Directors Even Goldberg and Seth Rogen stated that they intended for the movie to be silly and harmless (like it was), rather than a “threat” to the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. The movie was comical and in no way contained any serious threats.

The movie starts off with a little North Korean girl singing a seemingly innocent song about their supreme leader, but then transitions into a somewhat disturbing song about America:

May they be helpless, poor and sad and cold!
They are arrogant and fat!
They are stupid and they are evil.
Die America die!

From then on, we are catapulted into the worlds of Dave Skylark (James Franco), host of a highly popular talk show, and his producer, Aaron Rappaport (Seth Rogen). The duo are criticized for running an American talk show that features trivial celebrity news rather than serious political topics. After hearing that one of their biggest fans is the North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-un (Randall Park), they believe this is their chance to finally report on something meaningful. After scheduling a much-anticipated interview with the North Korean dictator, they are approached by a CIA agent (Lizzy Kaplan), who persuades, or “honeypots,” Skylark and Rappaport into taking out Kim Jong-un during the interview.

Skylark and Rappaport then depart to North Korea and are greeted by a large crowd welcoming them to their country. On their way to Kim Jong-un’s compound, the setting for the interview, they are given a tour of North Korea where they see what looks to be a grocery store and a fat kid. They comment on how they thought North Korea was a destitute country ravaged by starvation and poverty, but based off of what they saw, it was contrary to their beliefs. Upon arriving at Kim Jong-un’s compound, Kim takes Skylark on a tour of his residence, and a bromance ensues. Kim and Skylark shoot hoops, blow up things with tanks, party with girls, and even jam out to Katy Perry’s hit song “Firework”.  After having what Skylark describes as the best day ever with Kim, he backs out of the plan to assassinate the dictator. However, Skylark  discovers that the grocery store they saw when they first arrived in North Korea was fake, and that the fat kid was probably just a ploy to make them believe North Korea was a prosperous and healthy nation. Skylark then realizes that Kim was “honeypotting” him all along and making him believe the he was just a regular misunderstood guy, rather than a savage dictator. Skylark and Rappaport with the help of Kim’s propagandist (Diana Bang) come up with a plan to expose Kim Jong-un for the brutal dictator he really is. Then chaos ensues and the end of the movie turns into an action-packed shootout with tanks, machine guns, helicopters with missile launchers and a Seal Team Six rescue.

Overall the movie was an exciting, somewhat inappropriate, and laugh out loud comedy that will have you on the floor laughing your head off. If you are a fan of some of Rogen and Franco’s other comedies such as: Pineapple Express, This is The End, and Neighbors, then this movie is highly recommended. However, viewer discretion is advised due to the film’s R rating.