Redbox: Paul

I was skeptical from the beginning. It looked like self-gratification: I could almost see Frost and Pegg giggling to each other in the pub when discussing a science fiction send off. Despite being a loyal fan to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, I felt: this is where they will fall.

I was half right. It was a good flick, but oddly, they somehow seem to be moving backward with their careers: each movie is marginally less funny than the last. Perhaps they have simply grown old: all three movies have really the same premise, which is to gleefully deconstruct a specific movie genre. Or perhaps it is timing. Shaun of the Dead came out when zombie films were still in public consciousness. Hot Fuzz’s buddy cop genre is aging, and the days of Paul’s classic sci-fi are largely relegated to the 80s.

I also suspect he just wanted to be able to say he’d punched Sigourney Weaver in the face. By the way, has anyone else noticed that Sigourney is not a real goddamn name? Just checking.

The alien is a little too brash and earnest. It’s boring, is what it really is. It treads so much familiar ground that there’s never a feeling of discovery or mystery, which is the true hallmark of science fiction. Some jokes hit hard, and I wonder if they shouldn’t have simply taken a second and third look at their script. It feels as though they started production with a loose draft when what they really needed was to hit the dialogue hard and fast.

The movie is a little too hip to its genre. It finds it amusing to play tropes straight, sometimes without even a wink to the audience. But when you do this, you are no longer a witty commenter, you are a participant in the very cliche you are reenacting.

The only thing I really came away thinking is that they must really be very good friends, and they must be having a lot of fun. And you know what? Good for them. I mean it from the bottom of my heart: freaking awesome for them.