"If you don't respect animals, you'll be punished"
Mr Zoo: The Missing VIP was a cute cross between Dr. Doolittle and Pets starring a gorgeous German Shepherd named Ali and the dependable human ahjussi Lee Sung Min.Agent Joo Tae Joo leads a regimented life with a touch of OCD. He’s up for promotion and determined to get the position. When the Chinese envoy for the 25th Anniversary of the Korean-Chinese Diplomatic Relations turns out to be a panda named Ming Ming he doesn’t hesitate to volunteer for the assignment in hopes it will seal the deal for his promotion-despite his anathema for animals. His life takes a strange twist when he abuses a stray cat named GOD and later sustains a head injury trying to thwart a pandanapping. He ends up being able to understand what animals are saying and can communicate with them. The agency isn’t thrilled with his new “abilities” and benches Joo during the search for Ming Ming. Fortune smiles on him when a military dog named Ali steps in to help him find the culprits.
I found the first 40 minutes or so terribly uneven and uninteresting. Lee Sung Min gave his all as he always does so his performance was not the problem. Kim Seo Hyung made the most of this lighter role, showing she could do comedy as well. The problem was that this type of story has been done numerous times and execution is critical. The editing and scene setups came across amateurish and unpolished. There was the required estranged child who desperately needed the father who had no idea how to talk with her. And the competitive colleague licking his chops at the chance to leap frog over Joo.
Mr. Zoo had a beautiful German Shepherd, Ali, who was truly a good boy. Ming Ming, the star of the anniversary celebration knew her worth and tried to hog the spotlight whenever possible. An array of other creatures with legs and for those triggered-without them-were the highlight of the film. Not a great film, but entertaining for what it was. Fair warning, while this was a family film aimed at children there were disturbing scenes of violence against animals albeit with the requisite disclaimers.
27 June 2026
Trigger warning: A snake shown in different scenes. Dancing rats.
Kung Fu Panda Note: The animal costumes were actually pretty good.
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Lee Sung Min and Kim Seo Hyung should reunite with another movie/drama, maybe even something with romance ;p
I might even watch this again with the kids in my family, it'd be a nice easy movie they wouldn't hate xD
I was surprised that I recognized all of the voice actors, I'm getting really good at voice recognition~
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This review may contain spoilers
I've been a fan of Dr. Doolittle (the original musical from the 5o's or 60's) since I was a little girl. It took me a minute to warm up to the Eddie Murphy version. I have to say I enjoyed this Dolittlesque Korean version. NIS Agent, Joo Tae Joo (played by Lee Sung Min), hates animals. It's revealed he has a psychological scar and just can not stand being around them. He awakes after having hit his head with the ability to talk to animals. Unfortunately for Joo, the only witnesses to the kidnapping of the envoy he was protecting are animals. His main witness is a military dog named Ali (voiced by Shin Ha Kyun) who has PTSD.This movie is silly. I didn't find myself laughing (or booing), but I did smile and chuckle. It's entertaining. Any film where a man talks to animals will be compared to Dr. Doolittle, especially if the animals talk back and, boy, do they! The animals that know something won't give up the info for free. They've learned too well from humans. The production was done well. The CG fits right in. The writer/director did a good job putting a new spin on an old story.
The main cast is mostly voices. Each animal had a distinct personality and the actors did great jobs bringing those to light in the few minutes that most had to do so. Shin was perfect job as Ali. Initially, I was hoping that Lee Sun Kyun would be Ali, but his voice was perfect for the conniving black goat. You know what, I just realized I was mistaken. I did laugh. Not at anything done or said in the movie, but just at hearing Lee Soon Jae's big distinctive voice come out of a tiny hamster begging for help. You hear his voice before seeing the animal. I hadn't checked the entire cast so I wasn't expecting it when they showed the hamster. When he said about being on his wheel for 3 hours and having heart problems, I cracked up. I also giggled when I heard Joon Park's voice as the bald eagle. Lee Sung Min did a good job leading the human portion of the cast. I'm sure very often he wasn't acting with anyone, but you wouldn't know it. Bae Jung Nam played bungling agent Man Shik who has a knack for showing up in the right place at the right time and being of zero help.
The music was good and fitting. There's one song especially that you assume is being played due to the situation until you see the singer. I'd only watch the entire movie again with my 11 year old niece if she were interested, but I'd rewatch some of the animal guest scenes at anytime. Aside from the hamster, goat, and eagle, there's the gorilla and tiger that are standouts. This is definitely a family movie. I think children 8 and up would be fine.
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Mildly entertaining
This movie contains some of the worst animatronics I have seen in 15 years. If you can get past that, it's a slightly entertaining "family" movie. Of course, anything with Lee Sung Min in it is bound to have some redeeming features, and this is him doing his hammy overacting shtick, which is pretty funny. Bae Jung Nam was a nice surprise and handled a ridiculous part with - well, you can't call anything that silly "with aplomb" but he was quite excellent. I'm pretty sure David McInnis is actually a terrible actor, either that or he's always directed badly. He wasn't any fun to watch. Sinvely Whiplash would have been more nuanced.The music was irritatingly loud. I often had to turn down the volume and then crank it back up when there was talking.
If you are not expecting much, this is a nice movie you can watch with kids who speak Korean or who can read subtitles fast. There's some comic violence.
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Fun movie
This is a movie that the whole family can enjoy together. A bit of over-the-top, physical humor never goes amiss! I enjoyed hearing the voices of some of the actors I like in the animals. I kind of wish they hadn't used a Westerner as the villain, that seemed a little odd. I happened upon this accidentally and it was good for a couple of hours of laughs.Was this review helpful to you?
