Sunday 20 February 2011

Paul

I have been a huge Pegg/Frost fan since the days of Spaced but the fact that they were off to America worried me somewhat. This worry was upgraded to absolute terror when it was announced that my 4th least favourite American Seth Rogen would be joining them. There was genuine fear for Pegg/Frost’s comedy legacy and it was with an over abundance of nervous trepidation that The Nerdy Trio went to see Paul.

PLOT: Clive and Graeme, two Brits on a road trip fresh from Comic Con run into an alien named Paul who has escaped from the Government. They must help him get to a destination which is never fully explained in order that he can be picked up by his ship. They are chased by Agent Zoil (Jason Bateman my 5th favourite American) and his two trainees through the dusty back roads of America. Clive and Graeme kidnap Ruth played by Kristen Wiig (another Saturday Night Live cast off that I neither care for nor care to see more of). Graeme and Ruth fall in love. Paul swears a lot. Sigourney Weaver shows up and I get a little over excited at the use of one of the best lines in Aliens. Paul gets beamed up. END PLOT

Paul opens up at Comic Con and I watch two nerds live out my dream. We are then transported to a hotel with Pegg and Frost gushing to the tune of “We are in America!” “I cant believe we made it to America”. This was too self congratulatory for my liking and at the moment in time I hated them and quite frankly forty eight hours later I am still hurting from this.

The movie starts off quite slowly and picks up speed when they crash into Paul (voiced by the bile inducing Seth Rogen). I enjoyed the Pineapple Express - it was funny but there is something about Seth Rogen that I now cannot stand. I think it is the fact that he is in every single comedy known to man without one humorous bone in his body (the funny bone not withstanding). I hate him - he is the male equivalent of Jennifer Aniston (My 1st least favourite American).

Someone should tell Seth Rogen (and Jennifer Aniston for that matter) that being a workaholic doesn't necessarily mean he (or she) is any good at his (or her) job.

The success of the movie Paul is heavily dependent upon the success character Paul. Paul’s main contribution to the laughs is that he swears, drinks, smokes a lot and is fowl mouthed. He is funny but it just seemed like a desperate and cheap attempt to get laughs. There was nothing particularly clever about Paul.

Pegg and Frost were are good as ever but the big laughs came from Bateman and his two trainee agents.

There were some clever little moments - the Hillbilly Cantina bar music and some brilliant throwaway lines - Deliverance, Aliens and a brilliant Battlestar Galactica line that you will either think is hilarious or you just wont get at all.

Paul does deliver laughs and it is clever but if you watched it back to back with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz it is noticeably the weakest of the three - saying that Paul is a lot funnier than most comedies that you will see this year.

Paul gets an 8/10.
Paul cements the fact that Pegg/Frost are two of the best comedy double teams out there (although come back home boys, come back home)
Paul cements the fact that I am now in love with Jason Bateman (and his amazing head of thick, gelled hair)
Paul cements the fact that I do despise Seth Rogen (If a Pegg/Frost movie cannot thaw that fiery hatred then nothing ever will)

10 comments:

  1. I was bracing for the worse and it sounds like it's not as bad as I was expecting. P.S. Aniston is at the top of my hate listed, followed closely by Katherine Heigl.

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  2. Jennifer Aniston, Katherine Heigl and Renee Zelweggar are top three!

    Jason Bateman does a lot with Jennifer Aniston but I think that is so he can fill up the charitable contributions section of his C.V

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  3. Hey Karina, liked your post. Funny and cheeky. Following you.

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  4. Thanks for reading Rimly! I will follow you back.

    K

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  5. Karina - I am surprised how Aniston is still very much in demand with all the hatred for her : ). Mostly guys that too. 8/10 is quite good - will have to try and catch this one. Following you now.

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  6. My hatred of many of Hollywood's finest is featured heavily in my blogs ;-)

    Thanks for reading!

    K

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  7. I with you on Seth Rogen. Besides Pineapple Express this turkey thinks he is funny when he really isn't. Look at The Green
    Hornet which was a movie with huge potential, but in which Rogen alone destroyed just by opening his mouth! I don't hate him as much as that &+*#@1 _*#% Vince Vaughn who is my number hated yank. He is like Rogen in thinking he is funny when he just isn't. He is just a straight out talentless jerk and after the awful The Dillemma I have sworn to never see another of his movies. EVER!!!!!!!
    But I do like Jason Bateman. He is a nice guy and I've always liked him for not stooping down into the usual Hollywood lifestyle and become an egotistical dickhead. He stays under the radar and I like him for it.
    As you say though Paul relies on laughs from being rude and crude and is somewhat unoriginal even with the inhouse alien jokes. It was genuinley funny but it did get a bit repetitive. I suppose that type of humour is about as far as Rogen's talent goes.
    Paul lacks the bite of SOTD and HF but I did find it an enjoyable 90 minutes, but it won't be regarded as Frost/Pegg's finest hour. They need Wright their to bring out the best in them.

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  8. In the same vein I think Edgar Wright needs Frost/Pegg as much as they need him. I think I am one of the few people who hated Scott Pilgrim.

    Wright/Frost/Pegg are very British and they suit British humour. When they go for a broader audience it just doesn't work as well.

    I didn't even bother with The Green Hornet as I just know that I would hate it because of Rogen. It looked too cheesy.

    I have to admit to a Vince Vaugh phase but I quickly out grew him and now I find him cringe worthy.

    It will be interesting to see what (if anything)
    Pegg/Frost do together next. I know they have TinTin coming but I mean of their own material

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  9. Peter Jackson and Steven Speiberg are apparently making a TinTin movie here in NZ in Jackson's workshop., but that has been doing the rumour mill for ages.
    I honestly would rather suffer Seth Rogen over Vince Vaughn any day!!!!!!! I seriously can't stand him. He thinks he is so superior and just hate any scene he is in because all his does as a character is belittle everyone around him and I don't find that humourous. The Dillemma was really bad for this from him.
    Personally I absolutely loved Scotty Pilgrim. It was really quirky and different so it was a refreshing change. But taste is a funny thing isn't it?
    I know what you mean by the British sense of humour. In some respects Paul failed because it tried to be both British and American in humour and ended up with neither. I hope they don't sell out and go Hollywood on us just to chase the really big money.

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  10. Seth Rogen would be the lessor of two evils!

    I should have loved Scott Pilgrim but it fell short of the mark - I think it was a casting thing for me.

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