Paul

Not long ago, maybe less then a year, I reacquainted myself with the works of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg. Basically Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, and Hot Fuzz. The first time I watched their two films I hated them. As time went by my taste in comedy changed up and when I revisited these two films I absolutely loved them. That being said when I heard about Paul I was ecstatic seeing as how this time the film they both starred in was penned by both of them (instead of just by Pegg who collaborated with long time friend Edgar Wright on both of their previous films), plus it was being directed by Superbad’s Greg Mottola. That’s a winning combination right? How could it go wrong.

As time went on I heard nothing about Paul. No one telling me to avoid the film in theaters and no one telling me it was a must see. I heard nothing. I eventually saw it anyway and walked away very disappointed. For starters the film is just awkward. You go into one of these movies to have a laugh, hell, have so many they bring tears to your eyes and you feel like you’ve done a thousand sit ups by the time your done. Not so much. I got a few chuckles out of the film but felt its tendency to try and mix very immature humor with attacks on religion counterproductive. It simply wasn’t done intelligently enough to warrant writing a commentary into the films core that exploits religious fallacies while still not taking these moments to seriously. It created a lot of “should I laugh or should I not laugh” moments which faltered the comedic timing of the film. The only time I managed to get a chuckle out was when the film went off the far end of it’s comedy aspect; Paul gets felt up and reacts, Ruth learns to cuss or gets high, Paul attempts to ask Clive if he and Graeme are gay. These are momentary laughs but the film, overall, lacks memorable comedic moments.

QUALITY:
Aside from a 1% margin of error in this transfer (if that) Paul can be placed up there as one of the finest looking BD transfers your going to find. Black levels are completely solid, color is amazing, clarity and sharpness are absolutely amazing. I was worried that Paul would end up looking like crap considering how amazingly fine tuned the picture is but I have to give the team that handled Paul credit, he looks amazing even in HD. So what’s with the error? During the scene in which Paul and his crew are hiding from special agents in a small town skin tone goes a bit pink, almost red, as Haggard and O’Reilly are seen walking down the street. That’s pretty much it, as far as I could detect. Audio is a very accessible DTS-HD MA 5.1 that offers up a fantastic cinematic experience complete with immersion factors, ease on dialogue, and space for the musical aspect of the film.

BONUS FEATURES
~Hilarious Bloopers: I found them to be, just okay, nothing really all that great. Like a previous film I reviewed that had bloopers (Be Cool) this one seemed to staged and put together in some parts. Natural is best.
~The Evolution of Paul: A look at how Paul became realized and how they made him work within the film.
~Simon’s Sill Faces: I think they may have ran out of idea’s here. Very easily this could have fit right into the Bloopers package. Just Pegg making faces at the camera.
~Who The Hell Is Adam Shadow child?: A look at the fictional author from the film played by Jeffrey Tambor.
~Feature Commentary: Which can only be found on the theatrical cut.
~Galleries
~Digital Copy
~DVD Copy
~Free Bonus Film
~Between the Lightning Strikes: The Making of Paul
~BTS Features: Segments include "RV Doorway: The Cast of Paul On-Location," "Runway Santa Fe: An Interview with Nancy Steiner," "Smithereens," "5th Date Level Direction: The Cast on Greg Mottola," "Mexico Zero: The Locations of Paul," "The Many Paul’s," "Paul the Musical" and "The Traveler Beagle.
~BD Live
~pocket Blu app
~Rated and Unrated Versions