In Bizarre Baseball Culture, I take a look at some of the more unusual places where baseball In Bizarre Baseball Culture 2.0, I take an updated look at some of the more unusual places that I previously covered where baseball has reared its head in pop culture and fiction. In the process, I clean up some mistakes of mine and add some more perspective.

NOTE: The original form of this post ran here. It has some grammatical mistakes and out-of-date information that has been corrected in this post but remains up for posterity. In addition, I have added some extra stuff.

In 2019, the Bong Joon-ho film Parasite took the world by storm. The tale of a poor Korean family that integrates its way into the life of a wealthy family, it became the first film not in the English language to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It spurred a greater appreciation and interest in Korean cinema amongst cinephiles and even general audiences.

This post is not about that film. No, this is about the exact opposite of the award-winning works of Bong Joon-Ho. This is a post about the 2013 film Mr. Go, a Korean-Chinese co-production (more on that later) about a gorilla trained to play baseball.

This was a film much beloved by people throughout the baseball internet at one point for the sheer curiosity factor of its existence. Places like the now-defunct Big League Stew did posts about it, but few actually saw it. I, however, was able to procure a copy of the film in 2014. It was in the form of a DVD from Hong Kong, acquired from a Canadian seller on eBay. All for you, the readership of the Baseball Continuum (and anybody who found this link). Times have changed since 2014, though. Now, you can watch it streaming for free (with advertisements) on the Amazon FreeVee service and on Tubi.

So, buckle up. Below the jump, we dive deep into Mr. Go. Prepare yourself, because gorilla baseball, MLB cameos, banana-shaped thunderstix, pizza commercials, a bullpen-cart chase, and other madness awaits you:

(Mr. Go is trademarked and copyrighted to the film’s owners and rights holders, all pictures here are being used under fair use doctrine and are meant merely to support and enhance the opinions and facts stated in this post.)

We begin by watching some sort of news report that provides some exposition to introduce our main characters: Zhao Weiwei (played by Chinese actress Jiao Xu, who actually has been nominated for and won awards in her native country) and Ling Ling. Weiwei is the girl, Ling Ling is the gorilla:

Weiwei and Ling Ling live at a circus in China, and the two of them are practically raised together, forming a close bond. In fact, Weiwei taught Ling Ling to seemingly completely understand Chinese, which is really impressive. Impressive enough, in fact, that we get a brief cutaway to an American primatologist who is in complete shock at the fact a young girl was able to teach a gorilla one of the most complicated languages on earth.

Understanding Chinese is just one of Ling Ling’s many talents, however. What really sets him apart is that he can hit baseballs like, well, a beast. Literally. Except, hang on…

Yes, exactly, documentary-in-the-film. Baseball is not a popular sport in China. In fact, I think the only reason China is involved in this film at all is that a Chinese company co-produced it (more on that later). So, how did this gorilla learn baseball?

Well, the movie actually deals with this giant leap in logic here (one of many in the film that it actually sort-of tries to explain away). It turns out that the circus’ ringmaster, Weiwei’s grandfather, was a gambler, and he often placed bets on baseball games he picked up on TV. This was even though, according to the circus’ firebreather (!), he had no idea what was going on. But, hey, somehow Weiwei understood and liked it enough to teach it to Ling Ling.

After a nice boost from Weiwei and Ling Ling’s baseball-hitting act, the circus soon falls on hard times. First, they try to bring in a gorilla named Leiting, who would be a pitcher. Except Leiting is an angry Mountain Gorilla, not a friendly Lowland Gorilla like Ling Ling. A bad omen. Also, I’m reasonably sure that gorillas aren’t naturally angry or gentle based on what subspecies they are, but, hey, this is a movie about a gorilla who plays baseball, so who am I to argue?

And, what do you know? Not long after Leiting shows up, the massive Sichuan Earthquake of 2008 hits, kills Grandpa, and leaves Weiwei an orphan. Weiwei now finds herself in charge of a circus that is in deep gambling debts. Oh well, at least she still has Ling Ling, who rescued her from the rubble and also uses his hand to serve as an umbrella for her in the rain:
D’awwww….

Another important thing here: That baseball? It’s from her grandfather. In fact, it was what he gave her when he was apparently first explaining what baseball was to her:

Wow, that’s deep, man. Deep. But that actually comes up later on, too, with Weiwei mentioning it as a reason she loves baseball: it’s about returning home.

But back to the documentary-in-the-film, where we meet our villain: Lin Xiaogang, a “businessman” from Tianjin who enjoys general douchery and driving little RC cars around. Also, they maybe mention his name, like, twice. I kept calling him “Tianjin guy” or something like that in my notes, so I will bring that over here, too. This is what he looks like in his intro:

He wants Ling Ling, who he will then sell for 12 million yuan (about 2 million dollars). Oh, sure, the circus only owes about 6 million yuan (1 million dollars), but, hey, them’s the breaks.

Of course, there is no way that Weiwei and the dozens of orphan children who seem to live at the circus (plus that one fire-breathing guy) will be able to pay that. So all looks hopeless. Until, like the cavalry, Korean super-agent Sung Choong-Su arrives! Tell us about Mr. Sung, Hyun-Jin Ryu!

Thank you, Hyun-Jin Ryu! Now change your clothes because I’m pretty sure you’ve ruined that New Balance sweatshirt.

It’s instantly obvious that Sung wants to bring Ling Ling to Korea to play professional ball. After all, he’s got a swing that can keep up with the fastest pitches and hit the ball a long, long way. As if to drive in this point that Ling Ling is an awesome hitter, Shin-Soo Choo has a cameo where he is in awe of his swing:

Of course, everybody in Korea is skeptical about this. After all, it’s a freaking gorilla! However, after medical testing and much debate (during which the infamous “Air Bud” law of there being no rule that says the players have to be human is brought up), it’s clear that Ling Ling is will go to Korea…

And that is when we zoom out and see that this has been something being watched by the heads of the KBO. Yes, the 10 minutes of exposition are over, and we are now watching everything “live”. So, what’s going on in the KBO meeting? Well, it seems like having Ling Ling go to the Doosan Bears has been approved, but not everybody is happy about it. Sung is not a popular guy there, especially to the commissioner, who says that Sung has sold out all of the league’s best players to teams in America and Japan, and the commish is none-too-happy about this either. Seriously, he needs to be restrained by the end of the scene.

Meanwhile, back in China, the Tianjin guy and his crew come to collect from Weiwei and the kids, only to get knocked out when they start bothering Leiting, who proceeds to knock them all out with fastballs. And then… well, something happens, because the next scene is Weiwei and Ling Ling leaving for Korea, arriving to an adoring press, an astonished and worried manager, an ecstatic Sung, and a new name for marketing reasons for Ling Ling. You guessed it…

However, it’s not long before the first trouble begins, and we start to see that maybe the KBO commissioner was on to something with Sung. As a news conference goes on (during which it is explained that Weiwei knows Korean because the circus visited areas of China with large ethnic Korean populations), Sung is told that there is something wrong with Ling Ling’s knee. Sung says that they said the same injury problems about Shin-Soo Choo, and he went on to be a star in MLB. Oh, he then mentions that if the guy tells anybody about this, he’ll throw him in the river and burn down his house.

But, on a brighter note, the image of a Gorilla having a news conference is funny:

Hehehehe.

Anyway, the knee thing is just the start of Sung’s douchebaggery. Because, guess what? He wants to keep Ling Ling in a tiny enclosure. Ling Ling actually doesn’t mind that, but he then pulls down the branches of the expensive Japanese tree that Sung has in there, so Sung is soon letting Ling Ling walk around, albeit under the threat of a rifle on the wall that Sung SWEARS works. Given the very strict gun laws of Asian countries like South Korea, whether he’s telling the truth is dubious.

Oh, and as Sung says later on when they visit the stadium, this whole Korea thing is basically just a way to show off Ling Ling’s skills so he can then go to Japan or America and earn up to 100 million dollars. Never mind that Weiwei still hasn’t seen that contract and only needs a million.

Oh, and Ling Ling climbs to the top of the scoreboard during their visit to the stadium, too:

(You can see his Gorilla-Butt up there)

So, time to get to the game, right? Well, no. First, we get a scene with Tianjin guy coming to the circus and grabbing Leiting. This, of course, will become important later.

Then, FINALLY, almost a half-hour into the film, we see some real baseball action!

First off: BANANA-SHAPED THUNDERSTIX.

It’s NC Dinos at Doosan Bears, and oddly enough, Mr. Go isn’t a starter. He is brought in as a pinch-hitter in the 9th with the score tied. In fact, he is never a starter. Nope, they only use him as a pinch-hitter throughout the film. An odd decision, given the fact that he could be a DH. I mean, this movie makes it clear VERY quickly that Mr. Go is basically an automatic home run. So why only give him, at most, one at-bat a game?

(I think it’s because he’s NOT trained to do any base-running other than the running around of the bases after the HR, meaning any sort of walk means that he needs to be pinch-run for).

Oh well. I’m overthinking this, especially considering, well… LOOK AT THE PICTURE ABOVE.

That’s a gorilla in a batting helmet and a baseball uniform with a baseball bat in hand! However, as you can see here, Mr. Go is not properly in a batting stance. In fact, at first he doesn’t do a stance at all. Instead, hits while sitting down, sending both of the first two pitches he faces foul.

Weiwei then tells Ling Ling that he needs to “do it right” and starts making ape noises at him. Oh, I hadn’t mentioned the ape noises yet? When she REALLY needs to make Ling Ling understand, she speaks ape with him, going all “ooo, oo, aah, uh, ooo-iee”. NOW Ling Ling stands up, and proceeds to send the ball STRAIGHT INTO THE CENTERFIELD JUMBOTRON. The announcers go nuts because a gorilla just ripped a 158 KM/H (98 MPH) fastball into a jumbotron.

And then, it’s time for a MONTAGE! Our music of choice: Dire Straits’ “Walk of Life”. It also acts as Mr. Go’s walk-up music.

So, what do we see in the MONTAGE?

MERCHANDISING:

BIG CROWDS WITH MORE BANANA THUNDERSTIX:

ENOUGH DINGERS THAT ONE PITCHER FOR THE NEXEN HEROES HAS TO BE RESTRAINED IN THE DUGOUT BY HIS TEAMMATES AND THE MASCOT:

INSIDE THE PARK HOME RUN THAT KNOCKS OUT THE THIRD BASEMEN AND CAUSES THE CATCHER TO RUN FOR HIS LIFE:

A BACK-FLIP TO HIT A BALL THAT WAS BEING THROWN AS AN INTENTIONAL WALK (sadly, I don’t have a picture of that)!

Oh, and…remember that time Prince Fielder did a walk-off HR celebration where he jumped and the rest of the team pretended to fall down from the impact?

Mr. Go basically does that (you can see them falling in the second of the two above screenshots).

Really, that montage is worth the price of admission.

But, back to the plot. As Sung planned it, teams from abroad are interested in Mr. Go. To be more specific, the Chunichi Dragons and Yomiuri Giants. Sung, however, says that if they want him so bad, they should come in person.

Don’t worry, Sung isn’t the biggest douche around. Weiwei receives a video in the mail from Tianjin Guy, who has taken the kids hostage. This, along with a recent argument with Sung, means Weiwei is going to be late for the game. Uh oh!

So, it’s bases loaded at the ballgame, the perfect time for Mr. Go. But, without Weiwei to instruct him, he’s not going anywhere:

As Weiwei still hasn’t shown up (she’s currently watching Leiting beat up the Tianjin guy and his goons), Sung has to go and try to coach him. It’s a disaster, including Sung almost strangling the first base coach around the neck and whipping himself in his own face.

Ling Ling doesn’t do a thing. Soon, it looks like Ling Ling DOES hit the ball… but we then see… that he actually threw the bat into the outfield stands. Even in the KBO, that is an impressive bat-flip. Still, the fact is, he’s struck out, and he… doesn’t take it well, storming off the field, through the stands, and to the top of the scoreboard.

Back with Weiwei, she sees in the video the Tianjin guy (beaten to a pulp by Leiting) talking about how he’s just trying to do his job, but he’ll be blamed as the bad guy. Oh, but y’know how he just said he’ll be “blamed” as the bad guy despite just trying to do his job? Well, guess what? Not long after that he says he’s selling the circus orphans if he doesn’t get paid. Yeah, he’s a bad guy.

Meanwhile, back at Jamsil Stadium, Mr. Go still hasn’t left the top of the scoreboard. So, the cops arrive, and a chase ensues!

Oh, and that banana? Ling Ling throws that at the helicopter at the start of the chase. It’s a King Kong-like sequence that is even referenced as such by one of the execs watching. Ultimately, though, the police are able to tie Mr. Go up just enough that he nearly falls into the stadium bowl:

Meanwhile, Weiwei finds the contract that Sung still hadn’t given her to sign. That’s not what is important now, though. Back at the stadium, Ling Ling (Mr. Go… whatever, I’m using them interchangeably) climbs back up to safety while the crowd chants at the police helicopter to go away. Also, the GM of Doosan delivers one of the greatest lines in the history of cinema: