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With the new "Spongebob" movie coming out this Friday, I wanted to review something over-the-top and goofy myself. I didn't own any of the previous Spongebob movies and I also didn't have any animated films that are similar in spirit. So, I felt that the next best thing was a crude live-action comedy that doesn't take itself seriously much. We all know of the "Three Flavours Cornetto" trilogy made by acclaimed director and writer, Edgar Wright, and co-stars, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. If one sees a movie with the two actors, you generally assume that it's a work from Wright. With the case of this British-American production though, not at all. The movie follows Graeme and Clive, two British science-fiction nerds who went on a road-trip to Comic Con and some UFO-related attractions in the U.S. During their trip, they come across an alien named Paul, an English-speaking, foul-mouthed extraterrestrial with abilities such as invisibility, exchange knowledge, and healing others. Paul, after being kept by the government for decades, needs to get home by a rendezvous at the national monument, Devil's Tower, to which Graeme and Clive agree to help. Along the way, the two encounter/"kidnap" a Christian fundamentalist named Ruth, her aggressive father who is after them, and a crew of government agents taking orders from their boss known as "The Big Guy". The story is nothing new as it's clearly paying homage to classic sci-fi stories and tropes with the former being very inspired by Steven Spielberg films, although with a crude and meta twist. To the film's credit, whenever the story wants to take itself serious for a moment, it genuinely works as moments such as Paul healing his newfound friends and him reuniting with Tara, an old women who saved Paul back when he crash landed on Earth. The comedy, for the most part, honestly gets a lot of laughs both by the crudeness and how cleverly-written it is with a few running gags that manage to work. Even though it's not written by Wright himself, Pegg and Frost manage to get a similar tone and approach to the humour, mainly when it's focused on their character's interactions. However, not every joke works and the running gag of Ruth swearing due to her Christian beliefs being a sham is perhaps one of the unfunniest I've seen in a comedy. It wasn't funny the first time and it's not by the end of the film. Still, around 80% of the comedy does at least work and there are plenty of easter eggs and references to sci-fi fans to boot!
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Graeme and Clive are as perfect as two peas in a pod, with it largely being thanks to the actor's onscreen chemistry and comradery. I feel that their friendship shines through the most here compared to their other appearances, mainly due to how similar they are in their passion of sci-fi and how the arguments or disputes they have feel very rational and realistic when it comes to how two best friends should act. I think the comedy works the best when they are the focus as everything from their personalities to their homosexual-looking awkwardness is used greatly to the film's advantage. Seth Rogan voices Paul, who is practically an alien that acts like Seth Rogan from the crude humour to the dope-smoking charisma. Although not everyone might be a fan of him, I think Rogan really works as the titular character with his voice-acting and the performance never becomes uncanny or distracting. I buy Paul's personality traits as this laid-back being who means no harm. Kristen Wiig as Ruth is also pretty likeable. Aside from the painfully unfunny running joke of her attempts at swearing, I like Wiig's charm as this Christian nut who questions her beliefs and becomes the love interest of Graeme, who the latter falls in love with, even when she still had one eye due to her illness, which Paul soon decides to heal. The side characters are not only fun and enjoyable to watch, but they are actually given plenty of development as characters despite their limited appearances. From Jason Bateman's Agent Zoil, a man determined to find Paul, Bill Hader's Agent Haggard, a seemingly naive and inexperienced recruit who becomes hellbent on capturing Paul upon knowing the alien existence of him, Joe Lo Trugilo as Agent O'Reiley, an immature and nerdy recruit who's friends with Haggard, Blythe Danner as Tara, the elderly women who save Paul back when he crashed on Earth and has a sweet friendship with, John Carroll Lynch as Moses, the religious father of Ruth who chases after the protagonists, and lastly, Sigourney Weaver as "The Big Guy", a government official who mainly attends in public events and dates with others who decides to deal with Paul herself upon the end. All of these side characters are great, with Weaver's character being the best antagonist reveal role in her career that she became known for the past decade or so. However, it's Pegg and Frost that really steal the show as the loveable duo.
Greg Mottola is best known for directing the acclaimed "Superbad". Since then, he hasn't really been lucky with his films with most of them bombing, aside from "Paul", which not only manages to be a modest hit, but might be his best film in my opinion. A lot of it is really based on how much passion the film has for the aforementioned sci-fi genre, culture and Spielberg classics. Even if one removes the references, the setting of the Southwestern U.S and the alien-inspired attractions are pretty engaging to watch, which is mainly thanks to the British protagonists being out of their element in a way. There's a sense of scale in the film that makes it both an adventure and a parody by the balanced tone that Mottola manages to deliver. The cinematography by Lawrence Sher is also pretty good. It's not like his work on "Joker", but his shots are perfectly replicated to homage aspects of the genre or even famous films. This, on top of editing by Chris Dickens, allows for some great call-backs and even some effective visual gags. The score by David Arnold happens to be the last he's done for a major motion picture, which is a shame as I don't think he's a bad composer. His score is very much going for that mystery sci-fi aesthetic while also having that countryside road trip feel thrown in. It's not bad or anything special, but it works for this type of movie. The last thing to mention are the visual effects, mainly the appearance of Paul himself. Not only is his design fantastic being a callback to the classic designs of aliens as well as serving a story element for his looks, but the CGI on him is actually pretty good, given the production budget. He's well textured and animated and although he's not realistic-looking in a sense, he tends to look like he inhabits the same scene as the actors mainly by the dirty, unfiltered look of the film. If the movie looked very polished and professional, Paul wouldn't look as good as he does, but because the movie has a sense of grime and unpolished effect on it, the titular characters looks great. I hope Mottola manages to return to the industry and make a film that's just as good as his best works of the past.
"Paul" might not go down as one of the best comedies ever, but it's a pretty good one. From the engaging story, balanced tone, handfuls of laughs, enjoyable main leads, an effective supporting cast, Mottola's passionate directing, Sher's homage-filled cinematography paced with Dicken's skillful editing, and the effects of Paul are very good for the budget and is largely thanks to the dusty aesthetic of the film which itself matches the setting of the story. Outside of some awkward attempts of comedy and an average score by Arnold, the film's biggest weakness is also its biggest strength, which happens to be the vast use of references, homages and easter eggs. While I personally love their implementation as I see the film as a love letter to the genre, I can understand that not everyone might see it that way. Some might see the film as generic, unimaginative or piggybacking off on other successful films. If you love sci-fi as a whole along with buddy comedies that Pegg and Frost are known for, this movie will work extremely well, much like how horror fans adore "The Cabin In The Woods". However, if you're not a fan of crude humour or don't think references make a movie, this won't do you much good. Regardless, it's just a fun movie and love letter to the aforementioned genre at the end of the day.
Verdict: 8/10. A very good comedy that's enjoyment is reliant on how you feel of the genre, crude and reference humour as a whole. Weird film to proceed "Spongebob", but hey, when would I ever get to talk about this movie anyway?
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