Mr. Zoo (2020)

"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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the mystery part was completely predictable, but it's nice to see simple korean movies suitable for the whole family~ also, I don't like "in your face" comedies, and I kinda wish they went a little more hardcore with the story but it was overall heartwarming and a light simple watch~


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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