Well, that was good, wasn't it?
I headed to the cinema today (for the first time this year, I think) and saw "Paul".
To be honest, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Even though it stars (and is written by) Nick Frost and Simon Pegg I really didn't have high expectations as the trailers I saw didn't really inspire me. However, I enjoyed the movie a lot, it was just a lot of fun.
The storyline itself was fun, two geeks heading to Comic Con and subsequently heading on a road trip of famous UFO sites. Sounds like something a lot of geeks dream of and I'd love to do it myself if I could afford it! The stuff set at Comic Con itself was cool, I loved them being all excited about meeting their favourite science fiction novelist, the fact that no-one outside of their little sci fi geek bubble had heard of him was a running joke through the movie. I've met someone I'm fan of before and got very excited about it only for them to turn around and say "who?" so I could totally relate to that!
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost played Graeme and Clive to perfection - the fact that they're probably playing themselves probably helped - and their real life friendship chemistry transfers really well onto the screen (as seen in their previous on screen outings).
The character of Paul was really cool - I suppose you couldn't make a movie called "Paul" without having Paul be awesome. Seth Rogen's voice was perfect (I initially had my doubts about him) and Paul looked brilliant. He was cute but badass-y at the same time. The way the other characters interacted with him was great too.
The action sequences were very well done too - the chase scenes towards the end of the movie were great. Greg Mottola was a great choice to direct it - I think someone like Edgar Wright might have overpowered the simplicity of this movie with his intense visuals (although I do love his style of directing!). Great music too.
All of the supporting cast were great- Jason Bateman, Kristin Wiig, Bill Hader and, of course, Sigourney Weaver were stand outs for me but everyone was good and had their own character developments - nice to see Jane Lynch too!
Oh, and Lorenzo Zoil. Hahahaha!
To sum up, a movie about geeks made by geeks for geeks - spot the movie reference (references to "Aliens", "Jaws", Star Wars", "ET", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "The X Files", "Star Trek" to name just a few) - and this geek really enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to seeing it again. I think I'd give it a about 8 out of ten!
Trailers:
"I Am Number Four" - looks okay - the trailer's not that inspiring. Could be interesting though and I think DJ Caruso is a pretty good director.
"No Strings Attached" - I do like some chick flicks but this one just doesn't appeal to me at all. Maybe it's the cast?
"West is West" - I had no idea they were making this. It looks okay.
"Hall Pass" - looks like it could be fun. Stephen Merchant is a funny guy and Owen Wilson is quite watchable.
"Fast Five" - really? They've made a fifth movie in the Fast and Furious franchise?? I have no interest in this at all. Glad they got the number reference in their this time though (massive missed opportunity with the last one).
To be honest, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. Even though it stars (and is written by) Nick Frost and Simon Pegg I really didn't have high expectations as the trailers I saw didn't really inspire me. However, I enjoyed the movie a lot, it was just a lot of fun.
The storyline itself was fun, two geeks heading to Comic Con and subsequently heading on a road trip of famous UFO sites. Sounds like something a lot of geeks dream of and I'd love to do it myself if I could afford it! The stuff set at Comic Con itself was cool, I loved them being all excited about meeting their favourite science fiction novelist, the fact that no-one outside of their little sci fi geek bubble had heard of him was a running joke through the movie. I've met someone I'm fan of before and got very excited about it only for them to turn around and say "who?" so I could totally relate to that!
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost played Graeme and Clive to perfection - the fact that they're probably playing themselves probably helped - and their real life friendship chemistry transfers really well onto the screen (as seen in their previous on screen outings).
The character of Paul was really cool - I suppose you couldn't make a movie called "Paul" without having Paul be awesome. Seth Rogen's voice was perfect (I initially had my doubts about him) and Paul looked brilliant. He was cute but badass-y at the same time. The way the other characters interacted with him was great too.
The action sequences were very well done too - the chase scenes towards the end of the movie were great. Greg Mottola was a great choice to direct it - I think someone like Edgar Wright might have overpowered the simplicity of this movie with his intense visuals (although I do love his style of directing!). Great music too.
All of the supporting cast were great- Jason Bateman, Kristin Wiig, Bill Hader and, of course, Sigourney Weaver were stand outs for me but everyone was good and had their own character developments - nice to see Jane Lynch too!
Oh, and Lorenzo Zoil. Hahahaha!
To sum up, a movie about geeks made by geeks for geeks - spot the movie reference (references to "Aliens", "Jaws", Star Wars", "ET", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "The X Files", "Star Trek" to name just a few) - and this geek really enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to seeing it again. I think I'd give it a about 8 out of ten!
Trailers:
"I Am Number Four" - looks okay - the trailer's not that inspiring. Could be interesting though and I think DJ Caruso is a pretty good director.
"No Strings Attached" - I do like some chick flicks but this one just doesn't appeal to me at all. Maybe it's the cast?
"West is West" - I had no idea they were making this. It looks okay.
"Hall Pass" - looks like it could be fun. Stephen Merchant is a funny guy and Owen Wilson is quite watchable.
"Fast Five" - really? They've made a fifth movie in the Fast and Furious franchise?? I have no interest in this at all. Glad they got the number reference in their this time though (massive missed opportunity with the last one).