MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1996 Michael John Legeros
(Gramercy)
Directed by Jim Mallon
Written by Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, Jim Mallon, Kevin
Murphy, Mary Jo Pehl, Paul Chaplin, Bridget Jones
MPAA Rating "PG-13"
Running Time 74 minutes
Reviewed at The Colony, Raleigh, NC (8MAY96)
==
Mike Nelson, Tom Servo, and Craig T. Robot bring their cable-TV shtick to the big screen in MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE MOVIE, though with a substantially less-awful target to take aim at. The three, who sit silhouetted at the bottom of the frame, wisecrack their way through the cheesy 1955 classic THIS ISLAND EARTH. From sitcoms to "Star Trek" to DR. STRANGELOVE, their comments come from every corner of the pop-culture spectrum. More gags fail than fly, sure, but they all contribute to an atmosphere of mirth and merriment that lasts the duration of the film. You'll laugh; you'll howl. (Unfortunately, the other sequences-- those set in the dog bone-shaped space station, where the characters live, breathe, and watch movies-- are cheap-looking and largely unfunny.) The best part of MST3K: THE MOVIE is that the humor lacks either a mean-spirited or condescending edge. The writers don't attempt to outsmart the viewer; instead, they invite us to laugh along with them. They know, as we do, that bad movies are best heckled at.
Grade: B
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC
legeros@nando.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w)
Visit me in MOVIE HELL
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