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‘Checkpoint Zoo’ Review: A Wildlife Park Becomes a War Zone in Compelling Documentary
Provides an on-the-ground chronicle of animal rescue efforts after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine placed Feldman Ecopark in the middle of armed conflict.
“ Checkpoint Zoo ” trains its lens on 5,000 or so beasts who didn’t have that option — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine left them trapped in cages or pens on a no man’s land between enemy forces, terrorized and sometimes killed by missile strikes. There are inherently comical scenes where the founder’s quite lordly house full of collected valuables becomes a “Noah’s Ark” for evacuated creatures, complete with one caracal (a winsome-looking wild cat) surprised in a late-night bathroom. Given a bit of a celebrity boost by Leonardo DiCaprio’s name among executive producers, “Checkpoint Zoo” wisely avoids wading into political rhetoric or anything else much outside its narrow storytelling focus, despite occasional glimpses of foreign TV news broadcasts.
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