Movie Review: Paul (2011)

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have become one of my favorite comedic film duos of modern times. Whether its Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz these guys just crack me up. But I when I first heard about Paul I was more than a little apprehensive. I mean the trailer was probably what did it. It came off as probably being a really stupid movie...and not funny stupid just stupid stupid.

I am happy to say that I was proven completely wrong. When an alien named Paul (after a little girls dog whom he hit with his ship while crashing) finally realizes that hes not just a guest but a prisoner he escapes and happens upon Graeme and Clive, two English nerds in the states to attend comicon and visit famous alien crash sites. The film follows their adventures as they take Paul to his destination to leave earth all the while being pursued by government agents intent on preventing Paul's exodus from our planet.

Let me tell you, this film is a geek film through and through. With references to Aliens, Star Wars, Star Trek, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T. if you are a sci-fi nerd you will love this movie. Right off the bat as Graeme and Clive are walking to comicon they chuckle at the fantasy fans dressed as Orcs. This is a movie people in that community will totally understand though people who aren't too much into the science fiction/fantasy genres might not quite understand some of the jokes or references. Whether its a country bar band playing the Mos Eisley Cantina music from A New Hope, the two main characters re-enacting Kirk's fight with the green lizard man, or The Devil's Tower being the meeting place for Paul and his ride back into space, these all add to the entertainment and fun provided by the film.

Frost and Pegg do wonderful jobs playing fanboys, the exact kind of people who most of us have met in real life (or we happen to be). The unkempt greasy fans who see most things through the lens their favorite genre. Seth Rogen also does a good job voicing Paul. Of course having been hanging out on Earth for decades Paul has assimilated to our culture and comes off as just another one of the guys. Jason Bateman plays a hilariously serious government agent who has to put up with Bill Hader (Knocked Up, Superbad) and Joe Lo Truglio (Superbad), his moronic peers. The only character I didn't really enjoy was the one played by Kristen Wiig. Wiig's character realizes a bit into the movie there is probably no higher power and begins to let lose with cursing left and right. While I don't mind cuss words with her doing it so often (and horribly as someone without experience would sound) it just seemed a bit forced and unnecessary.

Besides Wiig's character the story also takes potshots at religion. While this didn't bother me at first it became a little stale as it was referenced to a little too much as the film went on. And while I wouldn't exactly consider myself very in line with the Christian faith it might get annoying to some who practice it. Though I did read it was basically done as a nod towards the bible thumping religious wack job mother of Carrie from the Stephen King book (and later movie) of the same name.

You could say Paul is to Science Fiction geekdom as Fanboys was to Star Wars lovers. It's a hilarious movie but even more than that it comes off very heart felt in many ways. It totally sounds cheesy I know but you can tell the movie follows the queues of E.T. where it is an alien being taken care of by a few friends who are trying to do the right thing after befriending the E.T. in the process of their journey together. Watch this not only if you enjoy previous movies done by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, but if you are a science fiction fan in general. There is plenty here to give you a good time!



Score: 9/10

Movie Review: Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

There seemed to have been a really big wave of alien invasion films that came this year and Battle: LA was one of them. The whole alien invasion rah rah rah lets fight them off type of films happen to be some of my favorites. I mean at heart I am a huge Sci-Fi nerd so this movie was sort of like nerd porn for me, though it did have its flaws.

Aaron Eckhart is a Marine Staff Sergeant who is close to getting out of the Marines. But it seems the whole hostile aliens thing is about to get in the way of that. We are introduced to the various members of his soon to be squad in different parts of their lives both inside and outside the Marine Corps. This is supposed to get us familiar with the characters and even care about them but I don't think it goes far enough in some aspects and it becomes fairly obvious once the action starts that not many of them are going to make it through to the end of the film.

The story itself is actually pretty decent. A squad stuck behind enemy lines during an invasion and trying to make their way to safety. But things go south one after another and many of the Marines end up wounded or dead. I enjoy it when movies do that too, when people are getting blown away left and right it gives a sense that no one is safe though Aaron Eckhart's character was the only one to escape this feeling since you just knew he wasn't going to get so much as a scratch.

A lot of the actors I'd never seen in films before and it kind of shows. Whether it was the script itself or just poor acting, this kind of hurt the film. There were a few people who you can tell did the best with what they had, most obviously to me being Will Rothhaar who played Corporal Imlay. Even a number of Eckhart and Michelle Rodriguez's lines fell kind of flat. In fact it had to have been for the most part the script, which had people saying things that had me facepalming or chuckling aloud while watching the film. Having spent a lot of time around Marines I can say there would have been a lot more cursing and less stating the obvious though I suppose that last one can be given some room considering it was for the audiences sake.

But I doubt most people went to Battle: Los Angeles expecting award winning acting. No you came for the action right? The CGI in the movie looks really good and blends with what I can only assume is live action set pieces rather well. Like I said before no one (mostly) seemed safe from getting ganked and we are made aware of that after the first fire fight when wounded Marines are taken out on a medevac helicopter only for it to be knocked out of the sky in a big ball of fire. There is a scene where the Marines hop into a tracked vehicle and a humvee to try and get to another destination that could have probably been much better, it was just too short. The combat scenes are intense because at any moment someone could be killed or injured and its always cool when a new alien weapon enters the movie.

Battle: Los Angeles suffers from at times shoddy dialogue that might make you cringe but the rest of the movie makes up for it. Imagine Black Hawk down but with aliens instead of Somalis and you have a good idea of what you are in for here. The movie offers mindless fun and by the end you actually do care about those who are still left in the squad. And the end? It totally leaves this open for a sequel which I would gladly go see.



Score: 8/10