Paul

PAUL (DVD)
Universal 

Release date: June 13th, 2011
Certificate (UK): 15
Running time: 104 minutes

Director: Greg Mottola
Composer: David Arnold

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Sigourney Weaver and Seth Rogen as the voice of Paul

In recent years there hasn’t really been a sci-fi film that entertains and at the same time doesn’t take itself too seriously.

That’s why I was so excited about Paul, a film written by its stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost; two guys I knew I could count on for laughs but who would also stay faithful to the genre.

It’s the story of two best friends from the UK, Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Nick Frost) who go travelling across America in a rented van to Comic Con in San Diego.

When they stop by a café and some local hunters mistake them for a gay couple, especially when Graeme gets a milkshake complete with sparklers, so they make a quick escape and speed off in their van down the highway. That’s when they see another car drive past them, careen off the road and crash into the nearby bushes. Out of the wreckages pops out Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), a little alien who’s just escaped from a military base after learning what they’re planning to do to him.

While Clive is reluctant to help Paul reach his mother ship, Graeme hits it off immediately with the foulmouthed grey visitor and it’s not long before tensions start to rise between the trio. Hot on their heels are some incompetent men in black who are determined to return Paul to the military base, and there’s “The Big Guy” (Sigourney Weaver), a tough, no-nonsense, ball-busting boss who eventually gets her comeuppance when she’s socked in the face and told the mother of all one-liners in sci-fi film history.

If you grew up watching films like E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Aliens (1986) or The X-Files (1993 – 2002) then you will enjoy Paul for what is; good old fashioned fun and nostalgia. The film does take a strong stand against religion, especially where it comes into contradiction with evolution and Darwinism, but I found this to be a breath of fresh air. The scene where Ruth (Kristen Wiig), a deeply religious young woman, glimpses the universe in a nutshell is priceless, making Paul something unique in a galaxy of films that all seem to be carbon copies of each other.

This brings us to the special features on the DVD. There’s over 10 minutes of fluffed scenes and this together with Simon’s Silly Faces is really funny. The Evolution of Paul gives us a look at what the alien looked like in some early test footage from 2008 and he’s not the only one who looks different – Pegg and Frost also seem to have undergone some changes as well! The only thing missing here is perhaps a few words from the sci-fi queen herself, Sigourney Weaver, but overall, Paul did not disappoint and it’s definitely a film I would watch again and again.

Patrick Samuel

The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is an emerging artist with a philosophy degree, working primarily with pastels and graphite pencils, but he also enjoys experimenting with water colours, acrylics, glass and oil paints.

Being on the autistic spectrum with Asperger’s Syndrome, he is stimulated by bold, contrasting colours, intricate details, multiple textures, and varying shades of light and dark. Patrick's work extends to sound and video, and when not drawing or painting, he can be found working on projects he shares online with his followers.

Patrick returned to drawing and painting after a prolonged break in December 2016 as part of his daily art therapy, and is now making the transition to being a full-time artist. As a spokesperson for autism awareness, he also gives talks and presentations on the benefits of creative therapy.

Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and science fiction, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.

Patrick Samuel ¦ Asperger Artist

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