‘Hope’ review: Maestro Na Hong-jin’s tattered sci-fi creature feature has instant cult classic written all over it

There’s a sly scene relatively early in Na Hong-jin’s hit film in production, He hopesin which the camera gazes over the ruins of a rural village in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, pausing for a moment on a propaganda banner reading “Protect the Nation from Infiltration.” It’s a little too late to heed this warning though because at that point, infiltration is still thought to be a single-digit threat. But this rampaging invader unleashes enough destruction and chaos for an entire army, tossing cars, trucks and motorcycles into the air like toys, tearing apart buildings as if they were made of cardboard, and leaving the streets strewn with bloody corpses.

It’s a great feeling to know from the first frames of the film that you are in the hands of a tenor of this genre. The rare thriller that takes place almost entirely in broad daylight, Hope draws you in instantly with its gifted cinematography, pulse-pounding score, adrenaline-fueled pacing, and sharply drawn characters.

Having landed on the map with three features created in an eight-year period, pursuer, Yellow sea and WailingNa returns after a decade-long absence with a film that makes these predecessors look like a warm-up act. He hopesa title whose meaning only becomes clear in the final scenes, is a brilliantly sustained pedal-to-the-metal experience that is almost astonishing in its bravura. It’s a long session at two hours to 40 minutes, but one that never allows your attention to wander, pausing for breath only intermittently, and lacing those brief periods of pause with invigorating shots of off-key humor.

The film begins with Hope Harbor Police Chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min, reuniting with Na next). Wailing) Arriving at the scene of a brutal massacre that left a mutilated bull dead in the middle of the road with huge claw marks dug deep into its fur and flesh. The dead animal is discovered and reported by a group of five hunters, led by Song Ki (Zu In Song), the most intelligent of the group.

Bum Seok listens impatiently to their second-hand accounts of tiger tracks seen in the mountains, leading them to assume that the animal must have wandered all the way down from Siberia. But the cop doesn’t believe this scenario, since the area is surrounded by a barbed wire fence and land mines, making it unlikely that any monster large enough to cause that kind of damage would be able to get through.

Bum-seok, an observant law enforcement officer whose ruthless demeanor impresses, seems less concerned about a predator on the loose than whether Sung-ki’s hunting buddies’ rifles are properly registered.

That changes when Sung-ki and his comrades set out into the mountainous forests to hunt tigers while Bum-seok returns to the city, alarmed to learn from his colleague at the base, Sung-ae (Hoyeon), that a tiger scare is already spreading and support from the reserve squad is unavailable due to a massive fire. He wanders into the village’s commercial district to find it half-destroyed and is arrested along with several locals while trying to shoot what one of them described as a “frightening monster.”

About 45 minutes into the film, we get our first glimpse of that monster, as a clawed hand reaches into a dark tunnel that used to be a store, grabs a wounded man by the head and hurls him against the wall like a rag doll. Soon after, we got a better look, and for the sake of spoilers, let’s just say it’s not a tiger.

The frenetic chase through the city, as the creature runs like an Olympian, is an insanely fast-paced sequence, one of many in which flying vehicles, debris, and bodies are weaponized against anyone in the intruder’s path. Beom-seok seems finished until Song-ae shows up with a cop car full of military weapons to slow things down. In something of a joke, the president asks his agent where she got all this firepower, and she sighs: “What does this matter now?”

Sung-ae is a fascinating character – beautiful, feisty, handy with guns and missiles of any size, and fearless behind the wheel at high speed. Model-turned-actress (b Squid game Alumna Hoyeon is great in her first feature role, from her action moves to her comedic timing, as she unleashes a barrage of bullets while shouting things at her target like “You’ve gone too far!” Or “Don’t push your luck, you stinking bastard!” Or “Die already, you motherfucker!” For a cop in a quiet town usually populated by elderly people, Song Ae is a remarkably quick study. She laughed out loud later in the event when Song Ki stunned her with some sharp shooting while pinning the window of a speeding cop car: “Who are you, a movie star? So hot!”

Korean comedy can often veer into the broad and bizarre, but Na’s handling of it is always judicious. This is true even of a lengthy, audacious monologue from a hospital senior, who tells Song Ae in minute detail about a case of explosive pork-induced diarrhea, causing him to pull down his pants when four of the monsters appear in the mountains: “I swear in all my seventy years, I’ve never clenched my hole so tight.” Song Ae’s reactions are priceless.

Once it’s discovered that there’s a group of hostile intruders and not just one, the action is divided between the city cops and Sung-ki and his comrades in the mountainside forest, with Na steering the story deeper into classic sci-fi territory.

But there are also funny interludes such as the funny scene in which a scientist performs an autopsy on a creature; When increasingly larger blades and saws prove insufficient to cut through her skin, she dons protective plastic gear like Patrick Bateman and fires up the chainsaw.

It’s also a nice touch that Bum Seok shows his compassionate side. After noticing what he believes to be tears in the monster’s eyes once he and Sung-ae escape, he is horrified to learn that their violent rage was caused by the reckless actions of a stupid human (Eum Moon-suk). Hwang puts Beom-seok on his feet by barking orders one minute and appearing terrified the next; He is the essence of a weak hero.

The film delivers scene after scene, from vehicular dares to thrilling horseback sequences in the woods, with plenty of beautifully choreographed clashes. All the main characters eventually meet there before being chased down a mountain highway. Don’t ask how and where international cast members Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton fit into all this. It would ruin the surprise, part of which seems like a potential sequel setup.

Cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo’s work is a marvel of kinetic energy, full of stunning vignettes and tracking sequences that eschew the usual hand-wringing approach to scenes with this kind of intensity. Editor Kim Sunmin’s strong editing combines dialogue- and action-driven scenes into a seamless package that never loosens its grip. The score was recorded by Michael Ables (who collaborated with Jordan Peele on… Get out and no) is a perpetual, anxiety-inducing, dread-soaked affair to start with and then frantically nerve-wracking as things get more complicated.

The effects work is excellent, even with some messy CG touches, and the creature designs are strikingly original. From its engaging principles to its delightful sense of humor, from its fresh take on sci-fi horror to its thrilling action, He hopes It’s a crazy good time.