Road movies and aliens. Two grand ol’ movie traditions gleefully twisted together here by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. But could Paul’s pot-smoking Area 51 alien prove offputting to anyone outside the geek clique?
Paul is a glorious ode to any cine literate viewer who would know their xenomorph from their endoskeleton, and would chuckle at lines such as “no Boomer, it’s forbidden”. There are so many nods and winks that it should come with a viewing compendium.
This shouldn’t put off the casual viewer though. Pegg ‘n’ Frost’s script still probes at your funny bone more than it misses it, even if the absence of the third leg of their tripod (that’s a War of the Worlds reference), Edgar Wright, is sadly evident.
Director Greg Mottola can handle the comedy and characters – Superbad and Adventureland proved that – he just lacks the visual flourishes and narrative control that would have benefitted Paul’s breakneck chase-movie plot.
As for the story, it centres on Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost), two geeks returning from their Comic-Con Mecca, and visiting notorious alien abduction sites in their clapped out Winnebago. Despite their predilection for anything extra terrestrial, the last thing they expect is little green (or grey) man, Paul (Seth Rogen), to coerce them into assisting his escape from the Man in Black (Jason Bateman) so he can phone home. Throw in blunts, stunts, and some colourful language, and you have a movie that’s seemingly leapt from an 80s childhood.
There is a lot to love here. The poster-boy bromance is a given – Pegg and Frost have their chemistry honed in a way that very few double-acts consistently manage without it growing tiresome. Funny lady Kristin Wiig is finally given more to do than her admittedly amusing staccato schtick. Her character is key to the atheistic diatribe that runs throughout the film, though importantly it’s never offensive, asking you to question faith, rather than quash it.
None of this would have worked had the CGI character of Paul been botched, so it comes as a pleasant surprise that Rogen injects him with genuine warmth amidst the toilet humour and geek-pleasing gags (his Predator is a doozie). A case in point is a touching exchange with Blythe Danner’s former close encounter victim that threatens to become a homage to ET’s best lip quivering moments.
There are a few too many threads that Mottola can’t quite knit together (this review hasn’t even mentioned the brilliance of Jeffrey Tambor) which adds to the hit and miss nature of proceedings. But when such highs are the Alien queen herself, Sigourney Weaver, giving the beat down to Simon Pegg then you’ll take the odd probe gag. If neither of these propositions appeal to you then you should go and rent Mac & Me instead.
[etRating value=“ 4”]
Paul is a glorious ode to any cine literate viewer who would know their xenomorph from their endoskeleton, and would chuckle at lines such as “no Boomer, it’s forbidden”. There are so many nods and winks that it should come with a viewing compendium.
This shouldn’t put off the casual viewer though. Pegg ‘n’ Frost’s script still probes at your funny bone more than it misses it, even if the absence of the third leg of their tripod (that’s a War of the Worlds reference), Edgar Wright, is sadly evident.
Director Greg Mottola can handle the comedy and characters – Superbad and Adventureland proved that – he just lacks the visual flourishes and narrative control that would have benefitted Paul’s breakneck chase-movie plot.
As for the story, it centres on Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost), two geeks returning from their Comic-Con Mecca, and visiting notorious alien abduction sites in their clapped out Winnebago. Despite their predilection for anything extra terrestrial, the last thing they expect is little green (or grey) man, Paul (Seth Rogen), to coerce them into assisting his escape from the Man in Black (Jason Bateman) so he can phone home. Throw in blunts, stunts, and some colourful language, and you have a movie that’s seemingly leapt from an 80s childhood.
There is a lot to love here. The poster-boy bromance is a given – Pegg and Frost have their chemistry honed in a way that very few double-acts consistently manage without it growing tiresome. Funny lady Kristin Wiig is finally given more to do than her admittedly amusing staccato schtick. Her character is key to the atheistic diatribe that runs throughout the film, though importantly it’s never offensive, asking you to question faith, rather than quash it.
None of this would have worked had the CGI character of Paul been botched, so it comes as a pleasant surprise that Rogen injects him with genuine warmth amidst the toilet humour and geek-pleasing gags (his Predator is a doozie). A case in point is a touching exchange with Blythe Danner’s former close encounter victim that threatens to become a homage to ET’s best lip quivering moments.
There are a few too many threads that Mottola can’t quite knit together (this review hasn’t even mentioned the brilliance of Jeffrey Tambor) which adds to the hit and miss nature of proceedings. But when such highs are the Alien queen herself, Sigourney Weaver, giving the beat down to Simon Pegg then you’ll take the odd probe gag. If neither of these propositions appeal to you then you should go and rent Mac & Me instead.
[etRating value=“ 4”]
