Review! Paul

IMDB says:“Two British comic-book geeks traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51. “


What We Thought:

Lindsay: Paul is one of those films that can almost be mathematically reviewed. To elaborate, Paul maybe had the possibility to be in the league of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but the not-to-be-underestimated brilliance of Edgar Wright is surely missing from the equation. In its own right, Paul is still a pretty funny movie. What works here is undoubtedly the cast. Seth Rogen works well with the veteran buddy actors Pegg and Frost, and Kristen Wigg serves up a good dose of awkward charm to accompany the trio. The plot is adventurous enough and the jokes are equally consistent. Another high point I found in the film was its ability to beam in some genuine emotion into the scenes without feeling corny or hindering the movie’s tone. Paul also treats its nerdy sci-fi crowd to scores of neat pop culture references and insiders. It works well for non sci-fi fans as well, but I admit, I may have enjoyed the film more if I was more of a genre nerd.

Jessica: Paul ended up exceeding my expectations. While I had high hopes for the Pegg/Frost duo, I was kind of skeptical about Seth Rogan’s voice coming out of a CGI alien’s mouth. Turns out that it actually worked well. The three of them really played out a great buddy dynamic and adding Kristen Wigg and a variety of other well-known faces into the mix made this movie my favorite comedy so far in 2011. I found myself laughing pretty much constantly throughout and loved how fast-paced the plot went along. I really enjoyed how they fleshed out Paul’s back story and found him placed within the history of pop culture in a way that I thought was very original and clever. All in all, I found no real flaws in the movie and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rob: Paul was a great movie that was really fun to watch. The characters, the plot, and the humor was all very well done and made the movie enjoyable from start to finish. Paul (the alien) was a good character. From the trailer I wasn’t sure how they were going to take his character because he was voiced by Seth Rogen. As soon as the character popped up on screen it made total sense and I realized how good a choice he was. The story was nothing short of what I would expect from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. This movie is on par with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz and, even though it’s missing Edgar Wright’s stylish directing, it fits right along with those parodies.