Go,
Yongary, go!
 |
| And I've had the time of my life... |
When
I was a young Godzilla fan, there weren’t a lot of the Big G’s flicks to go
around. Heck, back then in the late 80s, there were only a paltry 16 movies to
choose from. I barely needed all my thumbs and toes to count them all! So, I
devoured all the giant monster movies I could at any video rental store I
could. In the best cases, this lead to the original King Kong, the Gamera
series, and Gorgo.
In
my most desperate searching? It led to movies like Yongary, a South
Korean Godzilla knock-off with special effects more apropos of when other
movies make fun of old Godzilla movies.
I remember it for having a goofy scene where the titular Yongary dances
with a kid to rock n’ roll music on a radio, and the ending where Yongary
horribly bleeds to death in a river due to a chemical attack. It has those,
plus tons of padding, beyond cheap special effects, some of the worst composite
shots you’ve ever seen, more padding, and possibly the most annoying kid ever
featured in a giant monster movie.
 |
| He just wants Gypsy Danger's attention. |
In
other words, it could only be more perfect for MST3K if the song Yongary dances
to was sung by the kid and there were more nonsensical moments scattered
throughout. And Jonah and the Bots have an absolute blast riffing on this
movie. They are into it from scene one, and the sense of joy they have at
ridiculing this movie only tapers slightly near the end. The movie just gives
them a ton to work with. When the movie shows a miniature effects shot of a
rocketship launch pad, Tom calls it,
“Shining Time Station’s space industrial complex.” When the camera pans
over a typical South Korean street, Crow says, “The DMZ is surprisingly
mellow.” When an actor is composited terribly next to a model earthquake scene,
Jonah says, “If this wasn’t such a crummy matte shot, I’d be worried for that
guy.” And then there’s the fun they have with the movie’s space program, which
mainly seems to consist of yelling “Capsule.” Jonah and the Bots practically
turn yelling “Capsule!” into a musical number. Or a drinking game. They make each other laugh a lot in this, and
I’m not sure if that’s a sign that all the performers were growing more
comfortable in their roles, or if they changed how they recorded and produced
it, or what. Doesn’t matter, the results laugh for themselves.
 |
| Michael Meyers wasn't this evil as a child. |
But
the two things they have the most fun with are the movie’s evil monster
himself, and Yongary, the giant fire breathing reptile. Yes, the real monster
in this movie is Icho. There’s a term called “Kenny” used to describe the
annoying kid who befriends the giant monster in movies like these, and Ichio
may be the most annoying, evil, repellent Kenny to ever Kenny. He starts the
moving using an itch ray to annoy his sister and new brother in law. To repeat,
the lil’ bastard starts the moving using an invention made to annoy people
to annoy people. Is he present throughout the movie? You bet. Does he jeapordize
others to get a peak at the deadly giant mosnters? Of course! The only thing he
doesn’t do is boss the adults at military strategy meetings around and come up
with a solution. When Icho plays with some toy robots, Jonahs notes, “Soo toy
robots and shooting family members with an experimental weapon are equally
entertaining to him, Good to know. [under his breath] Psychopath.” When Icho
watches Yongary die, he says, “No stop, don’t do it any more,” and Crow adds,
“I want to deal the death blow.” Tom practically prays near the end, “Please
let this be the scene where Yongary finally kills Icho.” Even Gypsy gets in on
the action, saying “Wait, his name is Icho and he makes people itch? Glad his
name isn’t ‘Pooh-O’.” It’s fantastic.
Oh,
and the more likable monster of the movie gets some jokes, too. “Yongary’s the
kinda monster you get at the 99 Cent store,” Crow says. And after a fire
breathing rampage, Tom gives out the PSA, “Smokes weed once, destroys city. Don’t
be a Yongary.” And, in possibly my favorite reference to a movie reverencing
Godzilla, Jonah says he’s, “Just waiting for Pee-Wee Herman to ride through on
his bike.” Love it.
Too
bad only one of the host segments really rises to match the movie. The skit
about thanking the monsters that have impacted them ends way too soon before it
can go somewhere, as is the song skit at the end. That said, Jonah’s invention
exchange of a tiny desk to topple over in anger at work is a fun idea. And if
the worst that happens is they save their A-material for the movie riffs, it’s
a minor complaint.
 |
| Tiny Desk: Making you feel like a corporate giant. |
I
was ecstatic to see that Yongary would be covered by the show, and I was
not disappointed. With a movie that’s perfect for them, great jokes, and great
delivery, it’s a new personal favorite. Now, let’s see them cover the Godzilla
‘98 timed remake, 1999’s Yonggary!
Episode
in a Riff:
Y’know,
whereas Godzilla was parable for nuclear war, Yongary is a parable for copyright
infringement. -Jonah
And nuclear war!
-Crow
Random
Asides
-North
Korea made it’s own Godzilla rip-off called Pulgasari. And by “made’, I
mean Kim Jong Il kidnapped a Japanese director and his wife and forced them to
make him a Godzilla movie. This is a true story.
-If
Godzilla is Coke and Gamera is Pepsi, Yongary isn't even RC Cola, it's one of those store-brand generic sodas you buy to mix really cheap liquor with.
-Other
daikaiju flicks I’m still waiting to see on the (now actually named) Mystery
Science Theater: Monster from the Prehistoric Planet aka Gappa, The X
from Outer Space, and of course, the two original Gamera movies they
didn’t cover. A fella can dream….
-“Crow,
what did you dream about?”
“Electric
sheep, same ol’, same ol’.”
-”Remember
when I tasked you to tell me me your innermost hopes and dreams??
“No!”
“Exactly.”
I
love Kinga and Max.
-Jonah’s
tiny desk for toppling is a pretty solid idea. I could see every desk in
America having a tinier desk on top. And on top of that, a tinier desk. Ad
infinitum.
-“Coffee;
workers love it, everybody drinks it, even people who don’t.” Right on, Max..
-”But
if there’s one thing the world hates, it’s Hitler.” Aaand swerve!
-I
love the line in the Hitler Coffee bit about “Hidden Argentinian bean fields.”
-”It
makes Gamera look like a movie...that’s...a billion times better than Gamera.”
-Max,
underselling the movie’s quality.
-Okay,
were the dub voices for this movie recorded in a room made of hollow wood and
metal? I can hear every echo.
-“I
just wish I had the opportunity to thank Frankenberry for everything he’s given
me.” -Crow
-The Yongary Bar scene idea is just bizarre, a very Tom idea.
-The
end of this movie is so GD weird! It’s a goofy mosnter movie then the monster
dances and kinda bonds with the kid, then it dies horribly in a chemical weapon
a ttaack, and at a reception for the scientist the kid teases them about not
being married, then talks about his bond with Yongary and wishes y hadn’t been
killed! WTF!
-“Nice
bait n switch movie. Get us to fall in love with him and then pour out the reddest blood I’ve ever seen!” Tom, I saw
this movie when I was under the age of 10, and I still remember that scene.
You’ll never unsee it.
Additional Links
No comments:
Post a Comment