American excess replaces the British austerity vibe that defined the Simon-Pegg-and-Nick-Frost-starring genre send-ups Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz in this love letter to Reagan-era Spielberg. Greg Mottola (director of Superbad and Adventureland) steps in for the earlier films' Edgar Wright, and though Mottola's movie is more watchable than Wright's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, it shares that misfire's propensity for confusing fanboy-baiting references with actual gags. In scenes set at San Diego's Comic-Con, sci-fi writer Clive (Frost) and his illustrator partner (but not gay! — an oft-repeated "joke") Graeme (Pegg) begin their trek across America's "Extraterrestrial Highway" in a rented RV. They encounter an unexpected passenger: the original Roswell alien, Paul, a pot-smoking, foul-mouthed CGI creation (Seth Rogen). It all launches an E.T. riff that the two Brits would have mocked in their seminal TV series, Spaced.
