So yeah I saw Paul recently and I gotta say, I was moderately impressed. The general hook should be known to anyone who’s seen a trailer or commercial, but in case you are one of the few that don’t know, Paul is about an alien.
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No seriously, the movie spends most of the first act getting to know a couple of nerds (Pegg and Frost) with means. Tourists from England – I know the USA’s economy is bad but I dunno how a couple of pocket pulp writers make the scratch to come to the US, stay in 3-4 star hotels, rent an RV and pay for gas, oh and do this in the several cities the Comicon travels to… Why sleep in a hotel when you have an RV? Travel and food at gas stations isn’t expensive enough? Maybe I’m not being fair because this is the only major story flaw in my opinion. I’m guessing the writers being successful actors have lost the concept of expense, especially while travelling abroad.

Enter the Alien (voiced by Rogen) near the end of the first act, a stereotypical Roswell (Or Alienware) design alien, which I’m impressed to say is actually explained in the movie pretty well. Suffice to say the movie certainly plays up the government conspiracy angles, makes hundreds of in jokes and several predictable but well executed potty humor moments. Some of the in jokes are surprisingly cerebral, so the nerdier you are, the more you’ll enjoy them.

I do imagine that some religious groups could be somewhat offended by this movie. I won’t explain why because I personally thought the scene and subsequent subplot was absolutely hilarious, and if anyone seriously gets mad at a work of fiction… Well, fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke.

We take our road trip off towards the movie’s climax, ensuring several moments for giggles, a surprisingly decent amount of action, and a surprise twist that I would call worthy of Shyamalan, except Shyamalan’s movies tend to slam it in your face as if you were stupid, this one kind of just pops in as a “Oh, well now I gotta look at that differently” and it works. Oh and it doesn’t involve Paul being allergic to water and coming to a planet that’s near 80% surface water. Stupid Shyamalan. Get an easier name to spell, you hippie.

The guest star couldn’t have been chosen better considering the subject of the movie. Fantastic. I must also stress that the dialog and character actions are not the only canvas used for comedy. Some of the background items are used for fantastic comedic effect. I nearly choked on my drink when I saw the photos on The Big Guy’s desk.

The movie is a high six, low seven for me. Seth Rogan’s voice works quite well for the alien, Jason Bateman is believable too. It’s marred by Hader as Haggard. I understand he’s playing comic relief, but I think the movie would have benefitted a bit more with a slightly more serious actor. As it is, it’s hard to suspend your disbelief when you see Hader’s questionable ‘clueless’ routine. It’s been done before, we see the same character in Superbad. He’s by no means bad in the part, I just think the part ultimately was done wrong for this movie. Whether that’s scripting or acting is not information I am privy to, nor do I care all that much.

Because despite that, I can’t recommend it enough. I laughed out loud regularly, and certainly annoyed people sitting nearby.

 

7/10