Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen
Plot: Two Sci-Fi geeks, Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost) are on the trip of a lifetime (Comic-Con and then a road trip through America’s famous alien spotting sites) when they pick up Paul; a hitch-hiker with a difference. He’s a foul mouthed version of ET. And where there’s a wrinkly alien, there’s bound to be men in suits and dark glasses hot on his tail…
TM Rating: It stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost – that’s all you really need to know if you want to have an idea of what to expect from Paul. If you’re fans, you’ll like it. If you’re not…
Without Edgar Wright at the helm and with an American market in the sights, Paul isn’t quite as anarchically funny as either Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead but it does continue the pattern of being an affectionate pastiche of popular movie genres. Saying that, it will probably upset the Christians, red-necks and anyone who’s offended by a small grey wrinkly guy exposing his…err small grey wrinkly guy, so maybe it’s still a little anarchic.
Where both Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead were at their funniest when Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were bandying dialogue, in Paul the banter between the two is only mildly amusing until Paul himself arrives on the scene and injects a bit of grit with his streetwise profanity and riffs on religion. Paul’s been around the block and obviously picked up a few choice human phrases along the way. Watching what is basically ET swearing like a trooper is worth the entrance money alone. Seth Roden as Paul injects the character with a decent amount of depth so that we warm to him quickly and, like the main characters in the movie, accept the unlikely scenario of the existence of a hitch-hiking,smart ass alien without questioning it… too much.
The plot follows the typical good alien/bad government agency/hapless humans accidentally caught up in events scenario and as such doesn’t pretend to be anything new in that respect…just a much funnier version with a lot of knowing winks at some of our favourite Sci-Fi movies along the way.
Sigourney Weaver, Jason Bateman and Kristen Wigg help the action move along at an enjoyable and slick pace, but the real pleasure and funny bone ticklers in Paul don’t come from plot devices but in the playing-it-straight dialogue and verbal sparring between Graeme, Clive and Paul. Despite it all being a load of nonsense, you can’t help hoping they all make it through to the final credits.
7/10 ““ Utterly silly and very enjoyable hokum. If aliens ever land on Earth (And before any Erich Von Daniken fan comments – I know, I know…they already have) it won’t be so bad if they turn out to be like Paul.
Screening Times: 15.30pm daily at Gran Sur Cinemas, Costa Adeje
Tickets: €6.50 Buy Your Tickets Here
