Review | Mr. Zoo: The Missing VIP film review – disastrously misjudged comedy featuring talking animals
- This South Korean take on talking animals is every bit as dire as Robert Downey Jnr’s recent Dolittle remake
- Chief among the film’s many missteps is that the panda at the centre of action is portrayed by an actor in a bear suit
1.5/5 stars
With the bitter taste of Robert Downey Jnr’s risible Dolittle still fresh in our mouths, Mr. Zoo: The Missing VIP offers up a South Korean take on the concept that is scarcely any more entertaining.
Kim Tae-yun’s excruciatingly unfunny action comedy stars Lee Sung-min as a secret service agent who, after being knocked down in the line of duty, discovers he can now communicate with animals.
This turn of events could not be more fortuitous for Special Agent Joo (Lee), after the giant panda he is tasked with protecting is stolen, and the only witness who can identify the perpetrators is Ali, a military-trained German shepherd dog.
Forced to recruit the resourceful canine (voiced by Shin Ha-kyun) as his new partner, the stage is set for a whole herd of animal-related high jinks. Inku, the dog who plays Ali, is the film’s only saving grace; almost everything else about Mr. Zoo is disastrously misjudged.
Chief among the film’s many missteps is that Ming Ming, the panda at the centre of this calamitous circus, is portrayed by an actor in a bear suit. Voiced by K-drama superstar You In-na, Ming Ming is characterised as an entitled diva more concerned with being pampered than being kidnapped.