Just to give this review some perspective, I've been playing the various iterations of Civ for a very, very long time. I spend endless hours on 3 and 4, balancing game commitments and my real life. When Civ 5 was announced, I didn't hesitate. I bought it immediately. In short, it didn't take me long before I realized that this new Civ was nothing like the Civ of old. I've never played Revolutions, but I've heard there is a lot of overlap. I don't know. What I do know is that this game is boring. Really, really boring. Never have I clicked the "next turn" button like I have here. Maybe it's because it takes forever to build anything...so long, in fact, that it's easier just to hoard gold and buy things. Maybe it's because expansion and/or conquest isn't really encouraged. The seemingly massive happiness hit just makes it unreasonable. So I sit there, just watching the world slowly go by.

Compared to Pegg and Frost's previous works ('Spaced', 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz') which in my opinion are classics, 'Paul' falls a little short. Some of the jokes, especially the toilet humor delivered by Rogan, fall flat. It's also lacking in wit. The pacing is a little slow in the first half but it picks up quickly in the latter portion. Plot holes are scattered throughout the movie. In terms of execution, 'Paul' is quite well made. The title character looks amusing. The cross country location suits the setting. Cinematography is adequate.