Hope represents the next evolution of Korean director Na Hong-jin’s genre cinema. He first attracted attention with 2008’s supremely intense, take-no-prisoners serial-killer shocker The Chaser; went more action-intensive and bloodier with the 2010 crime thriller The Yellow Sea; and then took a kitchen-sink approach to horror while maintaining a tight control over the narrative in 2016’s The Wailing. A full decade later, and following much speculation engendered by its huge (for Korea) budget, three-year postproduction and tightly guarded plot, Hope has emerged as Na’s analog to the big-ticket filmmaking of Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan and James Cameron. The latter may be the most apt comparison, as the simplistic high-concept description could be Aliens meets Avatar.
But that doesn’t do justice to the nutty inventiveness on view in Hope, which sits alongside a couple of the most astonishing action setpieces in film history. Na takes a little time getting to them, though, starting his screenplay as a day-in-the-life-of-small-town-cops saga. The town is Hope Harbor, where police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) starts his morning checking out a dead cow that has been found on the outskirts, sporting large claw wounds. This scene establishes the hostility between Bum-seok and some local hunters, including his second cousin Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), but not what was responsible for the bovine bloodshed.
In a terrifically sustained series of subsequent scenes, Bum-seok receives more clues that quickly establish the culprit as something much more powerful than the initially speculated tiger. We follow him as he discovers the remains of more cows and then people, comes across trashed buildings, and witnesses cars being flung through the air in the distance. Na very effectively suggests the presence of something monstrous lurking and rampaging just out of sight, while production designer Lee Hwokyoung, seamlessly combining real locations and an extensive set, does a superb job establishing the ramshackle reality of Hope Harbor and the devastation it suffers.
Major kudos also go to stunt coordinator Yoo Sang Seob, as he and Na pull out all the stops once the creature shows itself and engages in a lengthy chase with our heroes through Hope Harbor’s streets and buildings. This dizzyingly kinetic setpiece is literally breathtaking, as cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo’s propulsively mobile camera finds the most exciting vantage point for every shot. The visual effects… well, they’re not quite as state-of-the-art as the rest of the craft around them. You won’t mistake the various critters roaming through Hope for anything other than digital creations, but they have been so well-integrated into the physical effects and action that they have the desired impact nonetheless. For that first major blowout alone, Hope demands to be seen on the biggest screen possible, and hats off to Neon for sending it out to around 1,500 U.S. theaters this week.
There’s more—a lot more—to Hope, however, and if it peaks at around the hour mark with that action extravaganza, there’s plenty to enjoy in the subsequent hour and 40 minutes. For a change of scenery, Na sets a good deal of that running time in the woods, where the hunting party learns more about the creatures’ nature, and laces it with humor both morbid (Bum-seok and retired military man Nak-yeon, played by Lee Sang-hee, squabbling over an unfortunate guy they’ve accidentally shot) and scatological (old-timer Mr. Hae-sul, played by Im Hyun-sik, describing in excruciating detail how he was taking a dump in the woods when he spotted some of the monsters). One of Hope’s running jokes is how ill-prepared its people are for dealing with the threat they face—though of course it would be hard for any average person, cop or otherwise, to effectively confront these beasts. The one exception is Sung-ae (Squid Game’s Jung Ho-yeon), who blazes onto the scene during that big chase and fires up the movie throughout.
Hope also throws in gross-outs of the visceral kind, like a disgusting creature autopsy, and hints of political subtext via Hope Harbor’s close proximity to the North Korean border; posted signs encourage everything from suspicion of both neighbors and visitors to caution about hidden land mines. If you’re familiar with Korean action cinema, you’ll know that firearms are scarce thanks to the country’s extremely restrictive laws, and you might sense a touch of satire in the sheer amount of hardware busted out by Hope’s characters. The actors all hit the right pitch of either down-to-earth or over-the-top, while Hollywood guest stars Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton… well, best that you find out exactly how they’re involved for yourself.
Even getting to that point involves riding out a few rough and overextended patches, and perhaps just a bit of judicious editing was in order here. On the other hand, Hope is such a go-for-broke rush for the most part that by the time you’re in the midst of the jaw-dropping climactic pursuit, you’ll likely feel grateful for any lack of discipline here.
