Paul

http://www.whatispaul.com/

As a huge fan of Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (and as someone who's met Nick Frost - he was one of the nicest famous people I've ever had the pleasure to meet!) I was looking forward to Paul like you wouldn't believe. I've known about it ever since Simon Pegg and Nick Frost first started talking about it which must have been at least two or three years ago now. I was intrigued at how different a movie Paul would be considering Edgar Wright wasn't going to be involved, as he'd been instrumental in the three previously mentioned Pegg/Frost outings. 


Paul is an alien who crash landed on earth in 1947. Only he wasn't called Paul then. He was pulled from the wreckage of his spaceship and so named by the young girl who found him. Paul is then taken to Area 51 where he remains, a prisoner of the US Government, for the next 60 years. Whilst trying to escape Paul crashes again (this time a car rather than a spaceship) in front of an RV (camper van for you non US folks!) driven by British geeks Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost). The three of them embark on a road trip across America, along the way picking up Ruth (Kristen Wiig), a devout Christian who doesn't believe in aliens, and a series of federal agents following their trail.


I was right to wonder how different Paul would be without Edgar Wright's co-writing and directing skills. And I couldn't help but miss him and wonder what Paul would have been like with him at the helm. Truthfully, probably not that different. I'm not saying I didn't like Paul, just that it was different, and there's not necessarily anything wrong with different. 


I think I just wanted to like it so much and in the end I just thought it was alright. I put down the casting of Paul as one of the reasons I didn't love the film. *If you don't like knowing who voice actors are, please skip to the next paragraph* As mentioned previously, I'm really not a fan of Seth Rogan. I hate to repeat myself but as with the review I did of his film 'The Green Hornet' I feel like he only knows how to play himself. Now I don't honestly know if Paul was written with him in mind. If it was, well I don't really blame him for taking it, as I would probably take any part that Simon or Nick wrote especially for me. But he's not exactly fighting the typecast here. 


I can't fault any of the other cast. Jason Bateman was sufficiently stern as the no-nonsense federal agent who gives chase to the elusive alien and his cohorts. I loved Kristen Wiig, having not really seen much of her before I didn't know what to expect and I thought she was delightful as the shy and innocent Ruth. So sweet and charming but then with a potty mouth you'd never expect! Pegg and Frost were on form as ever, it's always a pleasure to see them on screen together no matter what they're doing. I just wish I could put my finger on why Paul didn't do it for me, maybe I was just looking forward to it too much? Maybe it was the voice casting of Paul, as I thought the CGI was excellent? I wasn't all that disappointed, it just wasn't as great as I'd hoped. Maybe it will be a grower. When I've watched it a couple more times, I'll let you know. 7 out of 10.

Viewing Date - 20th February 2011

UK Release Date - 14th February 2011

Cast Overview:

Simon Pegg ~ Graeme Willy

Nick Frost ~ Clive Gollings

Sigourney Weaver ~ 'The Big Guy'

Jason Bateman ~ Special Agent Zoil

Bill Hader ~ Haggard

Joe Lo Truglio ~ O'Reilly

Kristen Wiig ~ Ruth Buggs

John Carroll Lynch ~ Moses Buggs

Blythe Danner ~ Tara Walton

Jane Lynch ~ Pat Stevenson

Jeffrey Tambor ~ Adam Shadowchild

and

Seth Rogan ~ Paul

Director ~ Greg Mottola

Writer(s) ~ Nick Frost and Simon Pegg