LMST 345_Topic: Satire and Sci-Fi_Paul by Greg Mottola

LMST 345
Topic: Satire and Sci-Fi
Watched: Paul by Greg Mottola

2011 Sci-fi comedy adventure, Paul is the story of two sci-fi geeks - played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, whose curiosities lead them to the heart of America's UFO hotspots rumored to be rich with UFO incursions and cover-ups. Directed by Greg Mottola, this film was originally a screenplay by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Starring both Pegg and Frost, the voice and motion capture of Paul himself is done by Seth Rogen.  While mindlessly exploring, the friends accidentally discover Paul, a raunchy alien who has been secretly living in Area 51 for the last 60 years and has been strongly influenced by American pop culture, as his character even smokes, drinks and uses modern technology. After their discovery, Graeme and Clive decide to follow Paul on an insane road trip to freedom, that evolves their perspective of the universe forever.

Together, the three are on a mission to help Paul escape from FBI agents who are trying to capture him for their own benefit. This film is a modern parody, said to be inspired by the writers’ Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s personal experiences of visiting Comic-Con conventions as well as other science-fiction films, especially those of Steven Spielberg. Although in my opinion, the film was a little predictable, most of the jokes in Paul are pretty funny.  I definitely recommend the film to anyone interested in science fiction comedies.

NOTE: The movie is available to watch on Hulu
https://www.hulu.com/movie/paul-2f76c370-d47c-4127-aa13-3a1053ea4894