Paul 4K 2011

The comedy ‘Paul’ was conceived and created by people who had already poked fun at zombie horror movies in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ and small-town maniacs in ‘Hot Fuzz’. If you like at least one of these parodies, don't even think twice about going to the cinema to see Paul. Here, Nick Frost and Simon Pegg continue the tradition of ‘we wrote it, we played it’, delighting the audience with their ‘no way’ facial expressions.

This time, the subject of the jokes is science fiction through the prism of urban legends (little green men, Area 51, flying saucers, contactees, and truth seekers somewhere nearby). Everything is mixed in a script blender, with quotes from Star Wars, E.T. and a couple of other famous films added for flavor. The result is a story about a couple of alien-obsessed geeks (played by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg) who travel around mystical places in the United States and suddenly encounter a real representative of another civilization, the humanoid Paul, voiced by Seth Rogen.

The fugitive visitor from outer space is being pursued by representatives of special agencies (Jason Bateman), who do not want to disclose information to ordinary FBI agents. And ahead of them lie devout Christians, police cordons, and much more... Every obstacle encountered will be discussed in colorful dialogue, after which even the most devout Catholic (Kristen Wiig) will begin to believe in evolution, smoke space weed, and swear like a dockworker, eliciting bursts of laughter from the audience.

I was afraid that the funniest jokes had already been put in the trailer, and the rest would turn out to be a toothless road movie. Fortunately, this is not the case, and the humor in the film is present without interruption. By the end, the number of lunatics traveling to meet the spaceship is off the charts, and since almost all of them are armed, they “happily commit suicide in nature.” People “in the know” will get even more enjoyment out of the comedy, as they will understand why the computer with the voice of Sigourney Weaver is there for a reason. By the way, I would also like to note Sigourney's epic appearance on screen, comparable only to her equally epic disappearance.
The reason why the film may (with little probability) not be very successful is the abundance of profanity. It resulted in a strict rating and certain requirements for dubbing. Seriously, by the end, the swear words become so long and sophisticated that they can be translated by borrowing phrases from jokes about Lieutenant Rzhevsky. Previously, this did not prevent Pegg and Frost from making money, but with a budget of $50 million for a computer alien... This is where we will find out how much audiences around the world appreciate the British parody duo, which puts any “Very” movies to shame.