Der vermutlich durch eine Überdosis INDEPENDENCE DAY und MEN IN BLACK durchgeknallte Byung-Goo hat eine Mission: Er will die Erde vor einer Alien-Invasion retten.

Dazu schnappt er sich, gemeinsam mit seiner unterbelichteten Freundin Sooni, den Obermotz der Außerirdischen. Dieser führte bisher auf unserem Planeten als Konzernchef Kang Mak-Shik ein unbehelligtes Leben. Jetzt soll der in einen Keller gesperrte, als Mensch sehr überzeugende, arme Entführte sich mittels Elektroschocks und diverser medizinischer Folterinstrumente seine extraterrestrische DNS bis zum nächsten Vollmond extrahieren lassen.

Dass ausgerechnet des Weltenretters Mutter Opfer eines Chemie-Unfalls durch Kangs Unternehmen wurde, ist nur einer der gallenbitteren Twists, die uns der Verlauf der Story um die Ohren haut, und die das vielfach ausgezeichnete Genre-Crossover aus Hostage-Drama, Science Fiction und Öko-Thriller mit irrem Grinsen im Gesicht zu einer originellen Perle machen.

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There’s no time to waste. At the next lunar eclipse, the alien prince will arrive from Andromeda, enter Earth’s orbit and await the signal from his earthbound accomplice to conquer the planet. It’s up to Lee Byung-Goo to capture the accomplice and save the world.

So Byung-Goo and his dim-but-loyal girlfriend, Sooni, don their alien-proof helmets, kidnap Kang Mak-Shik, powerful CEO and suspected alien agent, and set to their gruesome interrogation of him in Byung-Goo’s underground laboratory. Problem is, Byung-Goo just may be wrong.

If we were to describe much more of Save the Green Planet!, we’d risk ruining the exhilarating minute-by-minute surprises that this nutjob masterpiece offers up. It’s a truly head-spinning extravaganza that begins as a slapstick kidnapping comedy, morphs into a police procedural, a revenge thriller, an edge-of-your-seat escape drama, a science fiction epic and then goes on to redraw human evolution as a Mad magazine version of 2001: A Space Odyssey crossed with the Bible, only gorier. And more, much more, than just a crazy cult item, Green Planet has a sweet, sad soul, as it recounts the whole wretched history of human aggression, and the love of two lonely misfits. Thrilling, gorgeous, hilarious and heartbreaking, it’s a wonder to behold.

“Prepare yourself: Save the Green Planet could be compared to last year’s South Korean shocker, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance - but with a laugh track. As up-and-coming actor Shin Ha-kyun (JSA) plays the kidnapper in both films, this time around it could be called "Sympathy for Mr. Alien."

First-time director Jang Jun-hwan’s story veers from wacky black comedy to detective caper, from sci-fi to touching drama, all told with a unique, dark vision. It starts off as a rather extreme comedy, but looking into Lee’s fragile and misdirected mind, the film transcends the comedic boundaries it seems to set for itself. Laughs aside, Jang paints a portrait of a young man lost in a world of conspiracies and psychotic delusions which have taken root in the fertile ground of his tragic past. A story that goes against the grain of the mainstream, Save the Green Planet just might be the first cult film to emerge from South Korea.”

Toronto Film Festival