i knew that i wanted to see Paul the second i saw Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in the trailer. Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz were both absurdly funny. plus, the (almost) reverence with which they give to the source material they use for parody/inspiration is unmatched.
going in, i wasn't sure if this was going to be a straight send up of alien films or a comedy that just happened to have an alien involved. what it turned out to be was a fantastic, little homage to science fiction films, sci-fi/fantasy literature, comic books, video games and pretty much the entire geek culture. nothing and no one were safe from a gentle ribbing but they were never derided or mocked or treated as inferior. the geeks were the heroes.
the two major differences that this film had from the other two Pegg/Frost films:
1. the director, Greg Mottola.
2. the references to the inspirational sources (star wars, e.t., close encounters) ran the entire spectrum: visual, musical and mostly through the dialogue in the form of movie quotes.
neither are a detriment to the film. Mottola has been making a pretty good name for himself with films like Adventureland and Superbad as well as his work on Arrested Development. he keep things moving at a good clip without anything seeming rushed or periods where the action lags. the dialogue is crisp, funny and chock full of famous/memorable movie quotes. it also helps when the primary cast is also a modern-day, comedic who's-who: Pegg, Frost, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio, David Koechner, Jane Lynch and Seth Rogen (the voice of Paul).
i gotta give this film a major thumbs up and i definitely will recommend it to anyone and everyone.
four stars (out of five):
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