For all of the rip-roaring set pieces in Na Hong-jin’s creature feature Hope, there’s ascene at the halfway point that encapsulates everything that makes it so wildly entertaining. After asolitary monster has just torn its way through asmall Korean mining town by the DMZ, an older ginseng farmer tells police officer Sung-ae (Hoyeon) that, actually, there’s more than one. He was in the nearby forest when he hid away from three gargantuan beasts patrolling for their next victim, captured in aprolonged suspenseful static shot. But this is all relayed through awandering anecdote about how he almost died that day because of an unfortunate bout of uncontrollable diarrhea. Even in its ostensibly quieter moments, Hope is ariot.
Director Na returns adecade after his zombie mystery The Wailing with another genre-blending thriller that’s reportedly the most expensive Korean film ever made. You can see every single won on screen: mushroom cloud explosions litter the mountainous skyline; cars are thrown in the air like they’re weightless; and the walls of shopfronts are obliterated as if agiant has taken abite out of them. It takes about an hour to finally see the creature that’s rampaging through Hope Harbor, though at first, police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) suspects it’s aSiberian tiger that has mauled apoor cow on acountry road. He soon realises the culprit is much bigger, and the film’s tension-filled first act follows the chief as he hunts down the elusive creature through the immense carnage of Lee Hwo-kyoung’s detailed production design.
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Then we see the monster: asickly green, skeletal extraterrestrial played by amo-capped Cameron Britton and rendered in janky CGI that only adds to the film’s bonkers charm. (Other aliens are portrayed by an unrecognisable Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Taylor Russell.) This is straightforward, thematically featherlight, Spielberg-esque entertainment that sees Parasite DoP Hong Kyung-pyo stage some of the finest action filmmaking this side of Mad Max: Fury Road. (The closest element resembling amessage is the town’s proximity to North Korea, with aknowing sign warning residents to“protect the nation from infiltration.”) Long tracking shots traverse Hope’s decimated alleyways, gallop with horses, and ride alongside asquad car in an astounding motorway chase. The jaw-dropping scale of it all puts most blockbusters toshame.
Hope deals in simple pleasures: the thrill of audacious, ever-escalating stunts, Hoyeon wielding military-grade weaponry, enough expletive-laden one-liners to have you add“shibal” to your own vernacular. And despite the sheer size, it maintains anarrow focus on asmall ensemble, each determined character more incompetent than the last. The film’s dark humour delights in pitting the citizens of Hope Harbor against extraterrestrial forces they’re not remotely prepared for, but are brave/stupid enough to go guns-a-blazing anyway. Backstories are non-existent – but when it’s this much fun, there’s no need to explain it.
Just when you think those delirious two hours and forty minutes are over, Hope takes awhiplash-inducing turn, quite literally opening the story’s world to tee up asequel. (Na announced that he’s already written it.) And maybe Ishould feel baffled by the sudden lore dump minutes before the credits roll, but it only left me eager formore.
