Paul was excellent.

As soon as the credits roll there is a kind of tentative relationship with the genres like the X-Files and Close Encounters, but it changes focus almost immediately into a playful romp through science fiction and nerdlore.

The first thing you'll notice about this film is that it feels nothing like your typical "Alien" sci-fi movie. Oh sure, "Paul" has it's moments where It'll take off on a tangent, but only for a few minutes, and then it's back to the road-trip style comedy.

Anyway, after the boys run into a few clever plot devices, they take on a foul mouthed little grey hitchhiker and the story takes over from there.

I don't want to give away any spoilers at this point, and I'm pretty damn tired (so I am going to make a more complete review for my radio program) but I can talk about the technical aspects of the film; the writing, the acting, the story and the overall feel of the movie without giving too much away.

If you are looking for an all out action sci-fi comedy, you are not going to find it.

This movie is tailor made for the nerd crowd, and the dialogue and situations may not even make any kind of sense to the "normal" person. There are references to classic sci-fi programs, like Battle Star and Star Trek, some obvious, some harder to spot. There are stolen chunks of dialogue from other films; there are an almost haunting number of musical cues that are from other movies. While this film is quite funny, it is a little over aware of itself. Knowing its' audience does make Paul a little more niche than Shaun of the Dead and other films that Pegg has helped write, but it sill brought plenty of belly laughter from the audience in the theater.

As for Technical aspects, there was a surprising level of fluidity and realism to the Character of Paul. I know what everyone thinks when they see characters on screen interacting with a piece of CGI, but in all respects it's almost as if Seth Rogan is onscreen with Frost and Pegg, and throughout the movie, I can't recall a single moment where I was brought out of the film by the camerawork, set design, or interaction with the CGI Paul. This is remarkable as I can't think of too many times this is true. Even on the set of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," Bob Hoskins had a puppet and a voice actor to interact with, and I think that having a stand-in is what must have made this film so good. The alien is seamlessly blended into the film like a real actor and you never really feel like they are interacting with thin air.

The writing of dialogue is spot on. It almost feels like a Magic The Gathering tournament conversation at times, but is both hilarious to the point of absurdity, and still believable. You know when you're watching a film and the stilted wording allmost makes you want to scream? I'll give you an example; in "Reservoir Dogs" (or any Tarantino film really) you become acutely aware that you are watching a film. No one talks in that manner, even if it is an awesome movie, it's very much a set piece for the story. It's almost the other way around in "Paul." If you're friend's with anyone that has set foot on a convention floor, you've had a conversation like the ones in "Paul." the insults, goofy acting, and overall pacing of dialogue is completely natural. If you're a stock broker who has no clue what a Twi'ilek is, then you probably haven't seen anyone interact in this fashion, and it may scare you away, but as I said earlier, this film is made almost exclusively for the nerd set.

There are times when the writing is TOO aware of itself, in that it alienates a standard audience and is almost inaccessible to a regular comedy audience. The constant references to other shows, films, and comics makes it hard for an average comedy film of it's type. Most Road Trip enthusiasts don't have the same panache for Kirk or Star Wars, so a lot of smaller things will be completely lost on them and were probably lost on me. I'm certain there were "Battlestar" and "Dr. Who" references, but I'm sure I didn't get them.

This film is great, and it is a labor of love, and that's really the only thing holding it back. I really enjoyed it, but it's truly a mish-mash of in-jokes, memes and conversational humor. It doesn't go overboard, and at it's heart it is a bromance about a great escape tale wrapped in a road trip. It also follows a formula. Granted all of Simon Peggs scripts follow SOME kind of formula, but at times it feels like there's a correlation to that.

The production quality is great. Sound clips are both obscure and natural in their placement. Frost and Pegg are both believable and realistic in their portrayal of the great unwashed masses that write sci-fi fan fiction and construct models of X-Wings in their garage. That's the thing. I kept thinking of Kickassia. It's the way people would have talked in that film if they weren't so stuck on their own in jokes and were more concerned with the popular Lexicon.