Paul
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Sigourney Weaver, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader
Director: Greg Mottola
Rating: 3/5
It was back in 2007 when we were treated to the last Simon Pegg/Nick Frost fest with Hot Fuzz but now they are back with their latest collaboration.
Paul sees them team up with filmmaker Greg Mottola and as well as starring in the movie they also penned the script.
For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul has been hanging out at a top-secret military base.
Knowing the his usefulness is coming to an end the space-traveling smart ass decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town -- a rented RV containing Earthlings Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings.
Chased by federal agents and the fanatical father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap, Graeme and Clive hatch a fumbling escape plan to return Paul to his mother ship.
And as two nerds struggle to help, one little green man might just take his fellow outcasts from misfits to intergalactic heroes.
Ok so there is plenty to like about this movie Pegg and Frost, as you might imagine, banter well together and are perfect as Clive and Graeme as get a little more than what they bargained for on their alien hotspot road trip.
However when it comes to acting performances it's Seth Rogen who steals the show as the pot loving, foul mouthed Paul.
Rogen has one of those unmistakable voices and he brings the little green man to life as he brings a cheeky and carefree spirit to the movie.
The supporting cast are also superb as Kristen Wigg finds herself free of her father's religious ways and her swearing and balls grabbing antics really are very funny.
Would liked to have seen a little more of Sigourney Weaver but Jason Bateman is pitch perfect - with an excellent twist.
But... this is a very safe movie you do sort of get the feeling that you have seen it all before. Pegg and Frost are just coasting instead of taking risks - risks the movie needed to elevate it from amusing to hilarious.
While Pegg and Frost's script is solid the talents of Edgar Wright, who penned Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz really are missed.
Greg Mottola, who brought us Superbad, perhaps doesn't quite have the same handle and understanding of the Pegg/Frost partnership as Wright does - and you can't help but wonder what kind of movie it would have been if he had been at the helm.
Paul is a good movie it's funny, the character of Paul is just great, cheeky with plenty of in gags to keep sci-fi fans happy.
However it's just missing that little bit of something that would have seen it become a great movie.
Paul is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw