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Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return picks up right where its predecessor left off, retaining all the cult classic's crucial ingredients and adding a handful of fresh twists. Read...
- 1. Reptilicus
1. Reptilicus - Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return -...
- 6. Starcrash
6. Starcrash - Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return -...
- 4. Avalanche
The crew braves a cheesy disaster flick about an avalanche...
- 9. Yongary
9. Yongary - Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return -...
- 3. The Time Travelers
3. The Time Travelers - Mystery Science Theater 3000: The...
- 2. Cry Wilderness
2. Cry Wilderness - Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return...
- 1. Reptilicus
Apr 14, 2017 · Those flashes of imperfection and endearing clumsiness make MST3K: The Return a far more authentic recreation of the cult classic than was expected. Aside from a welcome return to the humor and joyous silliness of its conceit, the revival feels surprisingly authentic in a way that both gives fans the kind of show that they want without making ...
- Kevin Yeoman
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The cult classic TV show is back! Comic Jonah Ray plays the role of Jonah Heston, a hapless human who is forced by evil scientists to endure a vault of cheesy movies.
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- Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return Review
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By Matt Fowler
Updated: Apr 24, 2017 2:44 pm
Posted: Apr 24, 2017 1:38 am
This is a review for all 14 new episodes of Mystery Science Theater on Netflix. It's light on spoilers, which is a weird note to add since it's a MST3K and there's usually not much to spoil, but the story does actually get a bit serialized in the back third so... there's that.
I saw two of the new Mystery Science Theater episodes early before it debuted on Netflix, so I whipped up a first impressions piece that you can read, or revisit, here. I also spoke to show creator Joel Hodgson and new host Jonah Ray about the reboot here. Since then, I've watched the twelve remaining episodes. The verdict? Overall, it's very funny, and there are a handful of episodes -- simply because of the movie choices and the gloriously dead-on riffs -- that I'd totally watch again.
As many episodes of MST3K as there are, there are still some specific installments that stand out to fans and certain movies that made for classic episodes. To get there takes the perfect combination of film and snark - the premise, or cheap production, of the movie plus the running gags and jokes that those elements inspire in the writers. Often times, a particularly meat-headed hero is enough to carry a film because of how much the host and the Bots can mock his dense machismo.
Jonah and the Bots also have to experience, in a row, an awful '80s fantasy film called Wizards of the Lost Kingdom and its in-name-only sequel, so time away definitely worked wonders for the series as it pertains to title selection. Not that any of these are new movies that came out in the past decade, but coming back for, perhaps, only one season (though the revival ended up airing on Netflix and they give out second seasons like discount candy) created an environment that could hardly suffer any stragglers. These had to be choice cuts, and you do get, almost, a greatest hits playlist of cheesy MST3K fodder. There are a few foreign Kaiju films, a Hercules movie, a Western, a late '70s Star Wars ripoff, and a Christmas movie.
Yup, that's right, you even get a "Christmas Special" with this season, though the Mads make a funny point about how the new binge model means that no one will ever actually be watching it on Christmas. It's with this movie, the Christmas That Almost Wasn't, and the one preceding it, Carnival Magic, where the show really delivers the goods. These two films aren't just bad, because that's easy to do. You can have a movie that looks cheap or that's acted and written poorly, but to have a movie where the story is so bafflingly bizarre that you can't figure out, for the life of you, how it got made is a true treasure trove.
I won't spoil too much about the films but to say that one is about a a frightfully un-jovial Santa scrambling to make rent while the other involves a talking chimp who whips crowds into a frenzy by performing menial tasks. And Jonah and the Bots have a field day with them.
Speaking of Jonah, Ray winds up owning the host role by the end. As mentioned back in my first impressions piece, it takes an episode to get used to him, but by Cry Wilderness he and the jokes hit their full stride and the faster pace of the riffs really begins to settle in as the new style. As does the new mobility of Crow and Tom Servo (now played by Hampton Yount and Baron Vaughn, respectively) as they, occasionally, hover around the screen and interact with the movies more. Well, Tom hovers and Crow walks. Even Gypsy (Rebecca Hanson) pops in twice an episode for two wisecracks, while delivering the "payload" and retrieving the "payload." Whatever the payload is.
Toward the end, and this is where I'll get into some light spoilers, things start to fully gel with not only the entire MST3K mythos -- as both Joel and Mike are mentioned a few times as Jonah's predecessors -- but the entire story takes a surprising turn when Felicia Day's Kinga decides she needs to get married as a stunt to increase her celebrity status. And who does she select as her betrothed? That's right - Jonah! And this arc actually plays out over the course of the final four or five episodes, giving the season finale an actual season finale feel.
One item I won't spoil for you, however, is the names of the many guest stars who stop by the Satellite of Love (or the Moon 13 base) for some laughs - and a few musical numbers too! Day and Patton Oswalt also shine bright as the new mad scientists, though it takes a few episodes before their true dynamic kicks in. Patton's Max, TV's Son of TV's Frank, carries a torch for Day's Kinga, and his occasional swooning winds up playing into the final third of the season when Kinga starts eyeing Jonah as her groom-to-be. Both of them play off each other nicely and together they help shape this season into greatness.
The new Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a fiercely funny continuation of the classic cult series with an affable new host, a quicker riff pace, and some exceptionally great bad movies to mock.
Review scoring
great
MST3K returns for a new season, with a new host, and the same great humor.
Matt Fowler
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- Anthony Fertino
- Atlantic Rim. This episode very distinctly covers the most modern film that’s been given a riffing, a knock-off of Pacific Rim. This consequently made the riffing a little difficult, with less dead space to work with.
- Ator, the Fighting Eagle. This was the season finale of the Gauntlet, and it actually had a few threads to tie up. And given that it might be the last we see for a while if ever, this was truly an important episode.
- Starcrash. This riffing is a rewarding assault on a very unapologetic Star Wars ripoff. To the point that we get to see an adorable BB-8 Tom Servo. In fact, a great deal of the framing segments and jokes prod at the plagiarism in Starcrash.
- Reptilicus. This premiere episode of Mystery Science Theater: The Return was definitely the promise of a powerhouse comeback. Firstly, it does a terrific job of acknowledging all the new changes.
Apr 14, 2017 · While some things have changed about the revival of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” (premiering this weekend on Netflix) an awful lot hasn’t — including the refrain above from the opening...
Nov 24, 2017 · The revival of the cult classic has been renewed for a second season, TV Guide has learned. The big announcement came as breaking news during the show's Thanksgiving marathon.
