Secret Zoo

Start off extremely well with a lot of likeable characters to root for. I laughed quite a lot. The story is funny but also cute and hear-warming. The ending didn't really convince me and seemed rushed but also drawn out.

The premise is quite good. Unfortunately there are lapses in the pace. The build up is slow and not very funny. When they start putting on the animal costumes and drink coke it is very funny. Quite laugh out loud for quite a while. Again when the company execs came to check out the polar bear it's funny. Liked the way the conclusion was done.

A disproportionately large number of my favourite comedies are from South Korea. They are generally medium to low budget films like Lee Hae-jun's Castaway on the Moon, Koo Ja-hong's The Last Wolf and Dangerously Excited (BTW when is Koo going to make another film?!) and, indeed, Son Jae-gon's own My Scary Girl and Villain and Widow. They are extremely well-acted by stars and lesser known performers alike. And most importantly, each one is not just well-written (witty, complex, subtle), but also seems to be based on a genuinely personal, original way of seeing the world.

Secret Zoo is another such uncategorisable film. I suppose you could call it a small business vs corporate giant comedy, with Ahn Jae-hong succumbing to the charms of his new environment the way Peter Riegert fell for the Scottish village in Bill Forsyth's Local Hero. But Riegert didn't have to pretend to be a polar bear, did he? Secret Zoo contains many such unexpected surreal touches and laugh-out-loud moments. Most of them are full of warmth towards the main characters, but some of them are coldly critical of humans' baser instincts. My only complaint about Secret Zoo is that it's a bit too gentle, lacking the edge of Son Jae-gon's previous two films. Perhaps that has something to do with the film being based on a webcomic. (I think Son was the only writer of his other films.) But it's still better than a lot of comedies out there. Highly recommended.

The one and only fun part is to imagine what I could have done in such situation. Long movie gave me enough time to keep on thinking. That was the only fun part...

There is a true story of rebuilded zoo in Japan(Asahikawa) which is somewhat similar to how this story ends. So, I expected a bit more for this movie but didn't worked out for me. Especially, it's not that entertaining how rich people wins it all in Korea.

Subtle way weaving many problems of today's world into this modern comedy.

Problems eg income inequality; excessive power of less than 1% in population; lack of social mobility & justice even for white collar workers shrinking middle class; overly land driven capitalistic economy; and more.

Very smooth and natural flow of the plot, with both laughters (and some earned tears) in a good mix.