Movie review: Jigureul jikyeora!

I mean "Save the Green Planet"

A Korean movie about... well, this gets a bit complicated. I feel I was misled by the hype. Not that most are aware of the hype, which perhaps negates the meaning of hype. But it has won awards and is 'critically acclaimed'. The trailers and review snippets suggested this would be an original, upbeat, quirky kinda movie. In other words, my favorite.

But it's more of a cross between Silence of the Lambs and X-Files. It's definitely more serious and disturbing than one expects from the trailers. It's also a good deal more depressing than the 'comedy' it's touted as by critics. That said, it is a good movie. Original if nothing else. The message of the ending is a bit cliche, although not predictable, and not a happy one.

5/7 stars

Save the Green Planet

Official Synopsis:

Lee Byeong-Gu (Shin Ha-Gyun, JSA) is a sensitive, blue collar sad sack hopped up on conspiracy theories and sci-fi films whose life has been derailed by one bad break after another. Yet he knows there's no such thing as bad luck. The only thing that could have made such a mess of his life are...aliens. Nasty, disgusting aliens who have infiltrated human society. Sly aliens who are planning to destroy our planet at the next lunar eclipse. The one alien possessing the Royal Genetic Code needed to contact the Crown Prince and stop the destruction just happens to be his old boss, CEO of Yuje Chemicals, Kang Man-Shik (Baek Yun-Shik).

So with the help of his circus-performer girlfriend he sets out to kidnap Kang and torture him until he confesses to his alien identity and stops the invasion. Of course, it's hard to confess to something that's just a delusion in a sick man's mind.