5 Best Comedy Sci-Fi Movies to Watch After Bong Joon Ho's Mickey 17
Mickey 17 is valuable at least because it represents a rather rare mix of genres – sci-fi and comedy. For those who miss the good old days of space travel spiced with witty humor, we have chosen five more movies.
Although science fiction has been popular for decades, sci-fi comedies are not often seen on the big or small screen.
But that does not stop independent and established directors from humorously reflecting on the future of technology and civilization, exploring the human psyche, and traveling through multiverses.
1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 2005
An adaptation of the novel of the same name by Douglas Adams, a man whose specific and unique sense of humor inspired a whole generation. Garth Jennings' movie, as is often the case, should not be compared to the book – Adams' prose is impossible to transfer to the screen without losses.
But the director obviously did everything he could and made a great movie, carefully transferring the atmosphere of the original. The then unknown Martin Freeman is the perfect Arthur Dent, a lazy and cowardly earthling for whom a cup of tea is more important than intergalactic adventures.
2. Paul, 2011
Geeky duo Graeme and Clive go to the annual Comic-Con and meet a small, foul-mouthed alien named Paul who asks for help flying him home. The Secret Service has its own opinion on the matter, and Agent Zoil is always on the trio's trail.
Paul is the first collaboration between Nick Frost and Simon Pegg without Edgar Wright – and an immediate success. Paul is a sci-fi comedy full of black humor that still manages to remain extremely kind and light-hearted.
3. Evolution, 2001
Glen Canyon, Arizona, present day. Wayne, practicing for his firefighter exam at night, witnesses a large meteorite fall. The next day, two teachers from a local college discover a strange blue liquid leaking from the alien.
Microscopic examination reveals startling results – the mysterious substance consists of single-celled organisms that are evolving at an incredible rate.
The discovery gradually turns into a nightmare: as the alien organisms adapt to local conditions, they begin to spread out of control.
4. Safety Not Guaranteed, 2012
Three journalists are assigned to report on a man who has placed a strange ad: he is looking for a companion for time travel, but warns that he cannot guarantee the safety of the partner, as he has only traveled once before.
The debut film by Colin Trevorrow, director of Jurassic World Dominion, plays with the viewer, letting him guess what it is: another strange indie comedy, or science fiction crossed with drama.
The viewer will get all the answers only at the end of the movie, when he will understand why Safety Not Guaranteed is one of the most original projects about time travel.
5. The World's End, 2013
The final installment of Edgar Wright's Cornetto trilogy, the story of four friends who decide to walk the Golden Mile of bars in their hometown, which they once failed to do on graduation night.
Wright has been known to mix genres before, but in The World's End he makes the sharpest and perhaps most effective transition – halfway through the movie, the comedy suddenly turns into a sci-fi action movie about the conquest of Earth by an alien race.
