Paul - review

“Paul” is the name of our movie and lead alien for this review. “Paul” opens in Moorcroft, Wyoming with the crash landing of Paul’s spaceship circa 1947. The scene then jumps to present day San Diego, CA at the Comic Con convention. The lead actors are Simon Pegg as Graeme Willy, Nick Frost as Clive Gollings, and Jason Bateman as Agent Zoil. This is a simple “British” comedy for about an hour and forty-five minutes.

Paul crash lands in rural Wyoming and kills the local dog. We then miss out on the six decade jump to the present where Graeme (Graham) and Clive are visiting the states for the nerdy Comic Con Convention with a subsequent trip of the western states to see the infamous Area 51, Roswell, NM, and Black Mail Box for their alien heritage. The Brits get in the middle of an auto accident on NV 375 between the Black Mail Box and Area 51. Paul, the alien, was in one of the vehicles and is now free from his government captors and finds himself in the Winnebago with Graeme and Clive. The three are considered fugitives and are tracked by a few government agents on their unexplained trip back to Wyoming. The agents want to harvest Paul’s stem cells to harness his unique powers. They gather all his knowledge, but can’t stop there. Paul is unwilling to cooperate and willing to flee however he can. Paul visits the original crash site and apologizes to now aged little girl, Tara (Blythe Danner,) for killing her dog when he crashed. No spoilers in this review….so we gotta stop here.

The humor was a bit too toned down for what was expected. But regardless of expectations, the humor was a bit terse. The focal points of a majority of the jokes were on homosexuality, religion, and nerds. If you are easily offended, beware. Paul, being all-knowing, doesn’t back down to misinformation and is willing to startle and enlighten humans. These were often some of the most entertaining moments. The “black-suits” and government agents’ dysfunction provided most of the remaining humor.

Seth Rogen is the voice-over for Paul and was definitely not the best choice (as with Green Hornet.) At no point did Rogen manage to provide any benefit to the well animated Paul. As a character, the blunt and direct interaction with humans made Paul likeable, even a possible Paul II would not surprise me, but as for Rogen, they should have Paul grow up and have a more appealing and workable personality with his voice.

“Paul” is rated R for language and sexual references. It is not necessarily a kid’s movie. A few parents walked their kids out of the theatre after the movie started. Too late parents, damage was done by the time you left. Under age 13 would not be advised even with parents. Paul did not live up to hopes expectations. If you are a fan of Dumb & Dumber, Men in Black, Shaun of the Dead, or Independence Day, then sign up for a subtle version of each with “Paul.” Without have much that stuck in my head for this film and having to refer to my notes so often for my review, the film lacked any sticking power in my mind. Not good for having seen it less than a day ago. The film did what it was supposed to do humorwise, but given the recent release of the vulgar “Hall Pass” and knowing how well these guys can do in films like “Shaun of the Dead”, “Paul” is going to receive 3 out of 5 Cyclones as a score, yes i know i bumped it up a bit in restrospect.

Jeremy Brickner
CycloneMovies.com Critic