The first words Lee Byeong-gu, our protagonist, speaks are to his circus performer girlfriend during a darkly humorous slideshow. He tells her: “you probably think I’m crazy,” and sends Save the Green Planet on a delirious, genre-mashing journey, equal parts dark comedy, murder thriller, character drama and sci-fi adventure.
The thing is, Lee—sympathetically portrayed by the marvelous and mad Shin Ha-kyun—is convinced aliens will destroy the world, so he has devoted his life to studying and destroying them to become Earth’s hero. His rural home is impeccably designed with an inconspicuous living area to avoid suspicion, a mannequin workshop (to make money on the side) and a dank, dreary basement section devoted to all the alien evidence he has collected over the years. It is here that he brings a kidnapped company executive whom he suspects to be the head of the aliens on earth and a possible contact to the alien prince. With an impending lunar eclipse in seven days, and a number of police detectives on his trail, Lee must use all of his skills and knowledge to do something before it is too late.
Debut director Jeong Jun-hwan introduces us to our protagonist this way, winning over our sympathies with his heroic and discerning character. But Lee’s first words come back to us with a terrifying complication as the perspective switches to the detectives on his trail and the man captive in the basement. Jeong takes full advantage of the ambiguity behind Lee’s alien beliefs and twists viewer emotions every which way by calling his sanity into question. When Lee must resort to physical torture to get what he wants, even his staunchest supporters will be hard pressed to put all their faith in him.
But regardless, Jeong crafts a very likeable lead who remains the anchor as the film flows seamlessly through genres with an intense, yet fun plot and dark, anxious undertones. The film’s visual style—full of energetic extreme close-ups and CGI—recalls David Fincher’s slick, moody work in Fight Club coupled with a manic exuberance that matches our star. After a look into his traumatic past, the tension explodes in the film’s final satisfying act as the moment of truth approaches with Lee ardently fighting aliens, corporations and the law.
Save the Green Planet will be a late-night cult classic to be sure, with its frenzied personality and never-ending stream of crowd-pleasing moments. This is a film that simply gives and gives and gives so that it’s nearly impossible to fault it after being so thoroughly entertained.
Reviewed by Tarun
