Right, well it has been a long time since the last post but I feel entirely justified due to the ending of a Master's degree and the beginning of the job-huntin' season. Anyhow, in the interim I had several potential posts that never made it past the embryonic stage due to such varying reasons as the end of their cinema run (Jurassic Park 3D - it was utterly brilliant and more than I could have hoped), or being too Necronomicon-y (Evil Dead, Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn and the former's remake, all great in their own way and probably deserving of a full post further down the line). However, what I have decided to discuss is a film that, while better than my initial expectations, typifies the reason I started this blog in the first place: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's homage to classic science fiction, 2011's Paul.
In the same vein as Pegg's previous writing endeavours (though without the stylistic flair of Edgar Wright), Paul is rife with references to Steven Spielberg's sci-fi of the 1980s - most notably E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind - to the point where I was frantically Googling every minor plot point and background detail to check if yes, yes that was just an obscure reference to an ELO album cover (and if it wasn't, please excuse my over-excited brain). So while I did enjoy Paul, and would recommend you see it if you're a huge sci-fi buff, I have a niggling feeling that rather than add flavour to the simple and well-executed premise of two British man-children (Pegg and Frost) having their road trip interrupted by a fugitive alien (Seth Rogen on top, not-too-Rogen-y, form), Paul's furious insistence on homage perhaps makes it somewhat impenetrable and shallow to anyone not well-versed in vintage science fiction.
Pegg and Frost's script is at least well aware of this, and Paul (the alien in question) claims that most of the time since he crash-landed in the 1950s has been spent helping Hollywood to come up with storylines and iron out the characteristics of Spielberg's own aliens (revealed in a cameo from the man himself, and set in a Raiders of the Lost Ark-esque warehouse). In many ways, it would seem that Paul was the archetype for E.T., one of my favourite references being the former's proclivity towards Reeses Pieces, the sweets (not 'candy,' you Yanks) that lure the alien out from hiding in Spielberg's classic - but all I could really see in Paul's character was an almost carbon copy of Roger from Seth MacFarlane's American Dad!, though minus the sheer crudity of Roger's humour. I'm sure Pegg and Frost had no intention of riffing on American Dad!, their pop-culture sights being set much higher, and they revel in inserting minor - and major - nods to their favourite films and TV shows, and so do the actors tasked with delivering them;
That conveniently brings me on to perhaps my biggest gripe with Paul, which, to be fair, is really my only one, and that is SPOILERS the reveal that Agent Zoil's (Bateman) boss is none other than Sigourney Weaver. Weaver seems to be making a career out of being the big bad boss whose screen-time only consists of the last couple of scenes, and has no real impact except that, oh my god! - it's Sigourney Weaver! Unfortunately, this means that there was no real doubt in my mind that she would turn out to be calling the shots, despite my entire lack of knowledge of the cast apart from Pegg, Frost, and Rogen. The film wouldn't lose much by revealing Weaver's presence right from the get-go; especially as the main twist at the film's climax is that Zoil isn't a baddie after all. Maybe this isn't really a gripe either - maybe I just want a Galaxy Quest sequel...
I'd therefore recommend that you watch as much 1970s and 80s sci-fi as possible before you watch Paul, or at least sandwich a marathon between viewings, to maximise your enjoyment of it. But, on the other hand, this film's audience is not the uninitiated novice, and is clearly intended for Pegg and Frost themselves; the hardcore sci-fi geek who wants to send a love-letter to the films of their childhood. In fact, their references are so dense that I'm sure many could even be red herrings; Zoil's first name is Lorenzo, and I cannot fathom what impact Lorenzo's Oil could possibly have on Paul...