Genre: Science Fiction
Director: Kim Ki-duk
Starring: Oh Yeong-il, Nam Jeong-im, Kwang Ho Lee, Lee Sun-jae, Moon Kang, Cho Kyong-min
MST Season: 11
The Movie
*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED*
Inspired by the kaiju flicks that are so popular in Japan (but don't call this a kaiju flick, or weebs will jump your ass), South Korea gets in on the monster action with Yongary, Monster from the Deep. This flick sees a giant lizard being awakened underground and rampaging through cities, before dancing with a gun that makes it itchy and being stopped via biological warfare.
The thing that sticks out to me about Yongary is how janky it is. Despite knowing it wanted to be like a kaiju flick, it didn't really seem to know what audience of that fanbase it wanted to cater to. It tries to be a halfway point between the somber man vs. nature Godzilla movie, a sci-fi adventure like The Mysterians, and the goofy friend of children Gamera movie, and wound up succeeding at none of it. The film starts out with quirky characters on a sci-fi mission, then it morphs into a monster terrorizing a city flick, before trying to play the "monster is misunderstood" card briefly just moments before the endgame plan is put into place and the monster dies horrifically, like a pest you don't want in your house. This movie goes to so many separate places during its runtime, that it's hard to not be charmed by just how much effort it's going to, but it never succeeds as a cohesive whole.
To be fair, most of Yongary's problems come from that third act, because it second guesses itself. The monster is either something that needs to be stopped or it's something that needs to be coexisted with, it can't be both. The film goes down a path of exploring whether Yongary really is a menace, but then decides to not bother with it and poison the fucker, ending with a drawn out death scene where Yongary bleeds rectally. This isn't a proper payoff to the path that you embarked on. Even if you chose to not try and sympathize with the monster at all during the film, this is an anti-climax that lacks conflict. Yongary just stands there, and our heroes just spray him, end of movie. I think the intent of the film is that Yongary is a living being with complex emotions like all living beings, but was too big to live in this world and had to be put down for the sake of humanity, but that message gets lost when the characters are all smiles in their jokey happily ever after epilogue.
But it's the silly characters that give Yongary what watchability it has. This family of people caught up in Yongary's rise are a fun group of characters to be around, and it's a kick to see them try and counteract the monster. This isn't the most consistent film ever made, but you can't say it's not fun to watch.
At the same time, there is something to say about how gloriously staged it is. Sets, props, and the Yongary suit all feel fake and plastic, and say what you will about Godzilla movies but even the worst ones try and add weight and dimension to their limited special effects budget. Yongary is more deliciously fake looking, adding a comedic surrealism to the entire film that somewhat makes tonal shifts and goofy characters feel natural to this world.
Yongary was "remade" (and I use the term loosely) in 1999 as a crappy CGI monster movie that was released in the US under the title of Reptilian. Believe it or not, that movie is ten times worse than this one, and probably be a great choice for Mystery Science Theater one day. But in the meantime, we'll take the original and have fun with it, which I suppose "having fun" is the intended reaction.
The Episode
"You know, as Godzilla was a parable to nuclear war, Yongary is a parable to copyright infringement."
I had seen Yongary quite a while ago when I was much younger, and while I didn't remember much specifics about how the plot unfolded, I do remember its tonal inconsistency. When I heard they used it for the new MST, my initial reaction was "Ooh! Rubber suit monster movie!" then a pause and remembering just how strange Yongary was as a film. I was curious about what they would do with it.
Of the giant monster movies that have graced the new MST, which also includes Reptilicus and Atlantic Rim, Yongary is likely the best one, and the craziness of the movie is only one of the contributing factors. Jonah and the Bots weave and turn with the movie with ease, switching their reactions up depending on what kind of scene they're watching, from fakey science fiction to monster rampage to goofy kid dancing with giant lizard. The only turn that seems to jar them is Yongary's surprisingly gruesome death scene, which just depresses them, because it doesn't match the jovial flow of the rest of the movie.
While the genre commentary is to be commended here, I think what really makes the episode are the characters. Our main characters, despite being scientists and pilots for complicated aircraft and such, have a kooky, misfit dynamic. There is a lot of fun to be had with them, especially the child character who hangs around them, Ichi, who has a ray gun that makes people itch. The way Jonah and the Bots play with the character interaction in this film is really fun, and I'd probably argue that the honeymoon scene is one of the most hilarious scenes in the history of the show.
"Time to earn all that expensive oxygen!"
Host segments are on the light side, this time. There is nothing particularly memorable about them, as they all kind of irreverent inspirations from the movie. Jonah talks about how you can learn a lot about astronauts by finding out what music they listen to, decide what monster they'd like to be friends with, and also unleash a Yongary Nights night club on us. The concluding song, "Push Past the Hurting," is fine, but doesn't leave any lasting impact. The Invention Exchange has cute visual gags that kind of last longer than they probably should (especially Hitler Coffee).
Yongary is one of the better relaunch episodes, in my opinion. There are a few mundane qualities that hold it back, but the riffing is pretty funny and the movie is something weird to behold. I give this one an easy recommendation.
Good
The DVD and Blu-Ray
Like the rest of its season, Yongary terrorized MSTies as a part of Shout Factory's Season 11 DVD and blu-ray box sets, of which my copy is a snazy #WeBroughtBackMST3K Collector's Edition offered through Kickstarter. Audio and video are outstanding, and while there are no special features on the disc, it does share space with the following episode, Wizards of the Lost Kingdom.
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