Movie Review: Paul
So last night I was going to see Limitless but screwed up on the times and had to see Paul. I have been looking forward to Paul for a long time, but don’t think it will make a good review as I expected it to be amazingly cool (which it was). I will try to see Limitless later this week. Also I just found out that Regal Jack London Square has extended $5 movie night to all day Sunday, so I am pretty sure I will see Sucker Punch this weekend and review it too. I can’t wait.
For those of you living in a cave and not at all familiar with nerd culture, Paul is the latest movie by British comedy greats and nerds Simon Peg and Nick Frost. If you have not seen Shawn of the Dead or Hot Fuzz stop reading RIGHT NOW and go rent them immediately. Then come back. You will be a better human being for having done so. (Winchester Tavern Shawn of the Dead image courtesy of the movie t-shirt category)
By the way, if you are a Simon Peg/Nick Frost fan be sure to check out Spaced, a BBC show about two flatmates (that’s British for roommates) that I happen to think is really funny. It’s a lot of fun.
Anyway, Paul is about two nerds from England who come to America to go to Comic Con and then tour famous UFO landing sites. In the middle of nowhere they pick up an alien named Paul and have to help him get away from the Secret Service. I’m not going to go into the plot too much more than that, since I don’t think I really need to. The best stories are the simplest. Along the way they pick up a girl, are chased by some Secret Service guys, and enjoy some Americana as seen through English eyes. Stuff blows up, alien hyjinx ensue, and at the end you get a cameo appearance by someone who will put a big smile on your face.
I really shouldn’t even bother with my usual rating system, as I will be struggling to find black holes. I will start off with the stars and see what pops up. First of all, the movie is freaking awesome in general. Two stars. All the characters are great, especially Paul. Two stars. The story is really cool. One star. The dialogue is well done. One star. Every actor delivers a decent or better performance. One star. It’s about nerds. Two stars. There are literally several hundred inside nerd jokes and references to other movies (like the hillbilly band in a hick bar playing a country western version of the Star Wars Cantina jingle). Two stars. The CGI for Paul was truly amazing. You really feel like there is an alien there. One star. In spite of the marketing seemingly directed at kids the movie is actually meant for adult nerds. One star. Simon Peg and Nick Frost. One star. It features the guys at Comic Con and remains very true to what I know to be the convention atmosphere (although it seemed a little uncrowded, if you know what I mean). One star. Total: 16 stars.
Now for the black holes. Umm. Hmmmm. Not a lot. I suppose I could give one for the occasional habit of devolving into Scooby Doo-like antics when it came to hiding Paul from the authorities. In a lesser film that sort of Three Stooges slapstick can wear thin pretty quick. One black hole. That’s pretty much it.
So grand total of 15 stars, my best score to date. Awesome movie. Not only do I recommend you see it, but in fact I beg you to see it in order to boost the movies revenue and therefore encourage Hollywood to give more money to Simon and Nick more money to keep making them. We need to support guys who make movies that don’t suck.
That’s it. Kind of short for one of my movie reviews, but the long ones are where I can bitch and find ton’s of black holes. Great movie, and in my opinion a very decent date movie. If you don’t see it you suck.
As for yesterdays who-would-win question, Lex Luthor versus Joker, I am going to have to go with Joker. Sure, Luthor is a genius and has the resources of Lexcorp, but the unpredictable nature of the Joker will mean he will come figure some way of getting to Lex that was completely unseen.
For today, I would say let’s keep going in this thread going but take it up in scale. Who would win: Lexcorp versus Umbrella Corporation?
