With Thor: Ragnarok Taika Waititi has shown to a big audience the brand of humor he’s into. Movie lovers though already knew what he was capable of with movies like Boy, The Hunt for the Wilderpeople and What We Do in the Shadows. That last one, in which a “documentary crew” follows a group of vampires who are living together was both bizarre and hilarious. In that mockumentary there was a part where two police officers who weren’t the brightest ones, Officer Minogue (Mike Minogue) and Officer O’Leary (Karen O’Leary), visit the house to investigate. With Wellington Paranormal these two characters have their own spinoff show.
The two are approached by their boss, Seargant Maaka (Maaka Pohatu), to be part of a secret department to investigate supernatural events. From a “secret room” behind a filing cabinet they get a new case every episode which they have to investigate. This is the New Zealand version of X-Files in the form of a reality show, but then injected with the type of humor that Waititi is known for.
In six episodes, the agents see, among other things, a possessed woman, crop circles, party ghosts, werewolves, a plastic bag, scary clowns and zombies. Minogue and O’Leary play their roles as not-too-intelligent agents in a deadly serious way and are usually unaware that they are dealing with supernatural powers. Just like most comedies it is personal whether you like it, but if you have been able to enjoy Waititi’s earlier work then this is highly recommended.
[score8]
Oh, I want to see this. It looks like fun.