Paul was released on February 14, 2011 in the U.K., and March 18, 2011 in North America. It was directed by Greg Mottola, written by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and stars Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and uses the voice of Seth Rogen.
One of the better filmmakers of the last decade was Edgar Wright. So far, he only has 3 films, 2 of which involve Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and were co-written by Simon Pegg as well. Those films are Shaun Of The Dead, and Hot Fuzz. Both hilarious films, and definite a-musts for anyone of this generation, or zombie fans, or cop film fans. This, however, does not have Edgar Wright attached in any way, despite being very similar to Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz. Does Paul hold up?
The answer is yes. Paul is an extremely funny film, and while at times, it feels like a light version of Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, it is still extremely enjoyable for fans of the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, which it has been called, as well as normal everyday moviegoers.
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are the ultimate modern day movie bromance. They are great together. They have great chemistry, and work amazingly well together. Being best friends in real life helps them out quite a lot, as it has in their other films. Adding Seth Rogen to the mix is a bit of a risky move, but only using his voice worked out quite well. Seth Rogen does an excellent job as the title character. A problem that Ihave noted with most Seth Rogen films is thathis characters are never really characters, just Seth Rogen. Here, we do believe that this is an alien called Paul, and not the voice of Seth Rogen. So, kudos to this film for doing the almost impossible: making Seth Rogen not be Seth Rogen.
Now, even if you don't care for Simon Pegg films, or Seth Rogen films, but you love sci-fi films, check this out. This film is filled with references for just about anything that has to do with science fiction. It astounds me. From a country band playing the cantina song from Star Wars, to a certain queen of science fiction, do even "top men," this film is filled to the brim with all these enjoyable references. There are two non-science fiction references that aren't in the film that I would've loved. Arrested Development, and Hot Fuzz. This film was directed by Greg Mottola, who directed multiple Arrested Development episodes, and Jason Bateman and Jeffrey Tambor both make appearances. It's a shame there were no Arrested Devlopment references. As for Hot Fuzz, you have to watch the film for this. There was a perfect opportunity, but they didn't do anything with it. Shame.
Overall, this film is an Americanized and light version of the typical Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright film, but it is still enjoyable. Check it out if you want to at all, especially if you're a geek. This film gets a score of 8.5/10.
