Written by Chris Morgan
Sharknado really came and took the world by storm, which is not an intended pun no matter how much it feels like one. It’s probably the most well-known bad movie in recent memory. Sure, you’ve got your The Room and your Birdemic, but those are more on the down low. Sharknado was on SyFy. Anybody could tune in and check it out, and many people did, and they laughed and laughed at its cheesiness and goofiness.
Given this fact, it seemed inevitable that the guys at RiffTrax would eventually tackle this movie. For those not in the know, RiffTrax features three of the men from Mystery Science Theater 3000, Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, and Mike Nelson, riffing on movies with their jokes and quips and what have you. You don’t get the narrative, or the puppets, of MST3K, but you get the jokes. For this special occasion, RiffTrax decided to do a live show, with the event being captured for release for those of us who didn’t have a chance to see it.
First, Sharknado is truly an awful movie. The special effects are so bad, it’s made so poorly, and the actors are largely awful. However, it is always helpful when the movie being riffed is funny in and of itself, and Sharknado does provide a lot of that. It does drag at times, and it’s not the most amusingly bad movie these guys have ever tackled, but it chums the waters well for the gang. (This was an intended pun.)
On top of that, though, Corbett, Murphy, and Nelson remain masters of poking fun at movies. There are plenty of funny riffs thrown out during the evening, most of them at Tara Reid’s expense, and this is as close to old-school MST3K as you are going to get these days. The live audience loves it, giving an atmosphere to the whole experience.
There is also a short they run before the main event, and it will be exciting for those who are fans of the gang on the Satellite of Love. It’s “A Case of Spring Fever,” perhaps the weirdest short they ever aired, give or take a “Mr. B Natural.” It has all-new jokes, though, which is cool. They don’t really play to the live audience much. Occasionally, you get to see the guys deliver their riffs in a picture-in-picture style, but they don’t do much physically. Additionally, a live recording leads to the infrequent flubbed line.
Sharknado may be fun to watch by itself, but it is much more enjoyable when the RiffTrax crew is there for you (and Mark Buckingham agrees). It’s a really good viewing experience, very funny and very sharp. If you enjoyed MST3K at all, you will want to check this out. It’s not quite the same, but it’s still quite wonderful to watch.
