Paul Review

Paul, the new comedy movie staring the always lovable duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, is filled with non-stop sci-fi references that are sure to make any fanboy feel like Luke Skywalker inside Han's Tauntaun, nice and warm. Sadly, the frequent (and occasionally hilarious) pandering to nerds of all affiliations, is not enough to save this movie from a striking lack of creativity.




via moviecarpet.com

The picture, directed by Greg Mottola (of Superbad fame) and written by Frost and Pegg, suffers greatly from a lack of coherent vision. It simply refuses to settle into a consistent tone, jumping wildly, haphazardly, and rarely successfully between being a loving homage to classic science fiction flicks and a poorly constructed raunchy road trip. The set-up is decent enough. Two British, goodhearted, comic book loving man-boys arrive in the United States in order to visit key sites of alien encounters and along the way, they bump into a real life alien of their own. Frost and Pegg, clearly playing geeked out versions of themselves, bring a congenial air to the proceedings. But Seth Rogen, voicing the CGI generated Paul, seems sorely out of place. Rogen's (now somewhat tired) brand of foul mouthed smugness seems heavy against both the lightness of his human companions and the animation of the extra terrestrial. Of course, the comedic shortcomings of this flick do not rest solely on Rogen's voice over work. The script itself is often lazy, taking easy, unfunny, and somewhat offensive pop shots at tired American cliches, such as but not limited to, rednecks, Christians, and anyone living in or around a trailer. Adding insult to injury, the movie's running gags are often only mildly amusing, growing tiresome as the film progresses. Pegg and Frost have proven that they are more creative than run of the mill red state caricatures and poorly conceived breast humor.

 Possibly the best thing to come from the Paul set.

The cast supporting the main trio is a mixed bag. Jason Bateman is pitch perfect as Agent Zoil, the main  government official tracking down Paul. Batman hits line after line, using his hilarious deadpan timing. Kristin Wiig on the other hand is barely able to bring life out of her character. Though she seems to be genuinely trying, her SNL skill set is unable to overcome such a weakly written love interest. Bill Hader and Joe Truglio, do a passable job as bumbling operatives stumbling into the conspiracy, but rarely do the two generate anything above chuckles. Truth be told, the majority of laughs in this film come from the barrage of send-ups to beloved sci-fi classics. The more you know and or love Star Wars, Star Trek, Close Encounters of The Third Kind, E.T., Alien, Predator, The X-files, or any other alien production with a cult following, the more likely you are to laugh. Still, simply referencing these properties is not enough. As Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuzz (both hilarious Frost/Pegg collaborations) display, great genre spoofs must rise above name dropping and fully commit to the style they are emulating. In the end, Paul fails because Mottola refuses to go all in with the old school sci-fi vibe that the movie flirts with. Rather than attempting to be innovative, or at least trying to comment on the genre, Mottola chooses to return to his safe zone of crude sarcasm. The result is Paul, a movie that leaves the audience with a few laughs and the distinct feeling that all parties involved could have done so much better.

Grade: C-

Paul Trailer