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"Paul" and a movie pet peeve
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ScytheRexx
ScytheRexx
So I finally got to see Paul this week. Had issues convincing the wife it was going to be worth watching. While it was a funny movie and gave me a lot of laughs, it had one thing that always peeves me in movies, and I never understand why. Be aware that that spoilers will continue below, so don't keep reading if you have not seen it yet.
I know such a peeve is silly, but as a person that likes to think out plots on a logical basis (even the silly ones), it just always annoys me to no end when characters pass over such obvious things just to keep up that "mystery" of his allegiance.
So Paul is basically on the run from the government, who want to cut open his brain. The head of this chase is an agent named Zoil, who keeps barely missing Paul at every turn. We learn at the end of the movie that Zoil is actually the one that helps Paul signal his people and ultimately escape Area 51, and was only trying to catch up with Paul to help. Thus now the pet peeve.
I know the whole "Zoil is actually a friend!" is a pretty large twist that they didn't want to give away quickly (even though I realized it would happen the minute Paul mentioned he had a friend on the inside), but in order to try to keep that illusion they almost made him go entirely counter to his intentions throughout the entire movie.
Example near the beginning, the "Man in Charge" assigns two rookie FBI agents to setup a roadblock. Paul ends up sneaking past this roadblock, and the next morning the agents are just playing games till Zoil appears. Now, logically Zoil does NOT want anyone else following Paul, so his best option would be to get rid of the other agents somehow.
He comes to the realization Paul is on the RV, due to something one of the agents says. This prompts him to mobilize them to head north, one of them even asking "What about the roadblock?" leading to his response "Obviously it failed".
Why would you do this? Why are you bringing them with you now? Even stepping over the perfect chance to remove the other agents from the mission? Just tell them they still need to watch the road for activity and move on ahead. At the very least you would have a headstart.
Later on, when a women named Ruth joins with Paul and the nerds, she attempts to call her father to make sure he knows she is okay. Zoil instead answers the phone, and begins to go all "agent" on her ass saying she is with "dangerous" people and needs to give her location, all while the other agents are still around with him.
Once again, why? Why not try to show you are a friend and just want "Paul" to be safe?
The only thing I can even attempt to connect to his line of thinking is that he thinks the nerds "kidnapped" Paul and were going to do horrible things to him, which makes no sense since obviously they were heading in the direction Zoil knew Paul would be heading. Obviously Paul talked with them.
I know the whole "Zoil is actually a friend!" is a pretty large twist that they didn't want to give away quickly (even though I realized it would happen the minute Paul mentioned he had a friend on the inside), but in order to try to keep that illusion they almost made him go entirely counter to his intentions throughout the entire movie.
Example near the beginning, the "Man in Charge" assigns two rookie FBI agents to setup a roadblock. Paul ends up sneaking past this roadblock, and the next morning the agents are just playing games till Zoil appears. Now, logically Zoil does NOT want anyone else following Paul, so his best option would be to get rid of the other agents somehow.
He comes to the realization Paul is on the RV, due to something one of the agents says. This prompts him to mobilize them to head north, one of them even asking "What about the roadblock?" leading to his response "Obviously it failed".
Why would you do this? Why are you bringing them with you now? Even stepping over the perfect chance to remove the other agents from the mission? Just tell them they still need to watch the road for activity and move on ahead. At the very least you would have a headstart.
Later on, when a women named Ruth joins with Paul and the nerds, she attempts to call her father to make sure he knows she is okay. Zoil instead answers the phone, and begins to go all "agent" on her ass saying she is with "dangerous" people and needs to give her location, all while the other agents are still around with him.
Once again, why? Why not try to show you are a friend and just want "Paul" to be safe?
The only thing I can even attempt to connect to his line of thinking is that he thinks the nerds "kidnapped" Paul and were going to do horrible things to him, which makes no sense since obviously they were heading in the direction Zoil knew Paul would be heading. Obviously Paul talked with them.
I know such a peeve is silly, but as a person that likes to think out plots on a logical basis (even the silly ones), it just always annoys me to no end when characters pass over such obvious things just to keep up that "mystery" of his allegiance.