Opening in theaters on September 9 is ‘Hope,’ written and directed by Na Hong-jin, and starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, Alicia Vikander, and Michael Fassbender.
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Initial Thoughts
A full decade after his 2016 horror/procedural hybrid ‘The Wailing,’ writer and director Na Hong-jin returns to the screen with a sci-fi spectacle called ‘Hope.’ While the former was a slow-burn tale of terror and sheer dread leavened with quirky humor, ‘Hope’ is different yet the same: like ‘The Wailing,’ it set in a remote South Korean town beset by forces beyond its control, but unlike that film, it’s a gonzo, slapstick, brain-frying sci-fi action thriller that careens madly through its two-and-a-half-hour runtime like an out-of-control car.
The fact that the movie is endlessly entertaining for at least half of that runtime (save a somewhat bloated middle) keeps the viewer locked fully into the plight of Hope Harbor and its eccentric residents and either wincing or laughing out loud at what happens to them. But one near-fatal flaw and a sure-to-be-divisive ending mar the experience.
Story and Direction
Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min), police chief of the small South Korean town of Hope Harbor, investigates the mutilated corpse of a bull that’s been discovered lying in the road by local hunter Sung-ki (Zo In-sung) and his buddies. While they trace the unknown menace’s path backward into the woods outside of town, Bum-seok drives into the village – only to discover that the unseen creature is already there, carving a swath of bloody destruction and death that’s almost incomprehensible.
For its first hour, as Bum-seok and a rotating cast of locals (all of whom have guns despite local ordinances against them – no doubt due to their proximity to the North Korean DMZ) pursue or are pursued by the creature, ‘Hope’ really sizzles. The practical effects as cars and debris are flung at the villagers and the streets fill with blood and viscera are wildly intense and darkly hilarious, even as director Na builds an underlying atmosphere of terror by keeping his monster fully offscreen.
Bum-seok and the locals are a wonderfully colorful lot, and they’re soon joined by the chief’s badass deputy Sung-ae (Hoyeon) and the curmudgeonly Ahn Nak-yeon (Lee Sang-hee), the latter of whom shares a farcical sequence with the chief in which they accidentally shoot a chef. Up until the moment when the first monster is revealed, ‘Hope’ is pure, adrenalized, gradually intensifying filmmaking.
Then we meet the monster, a truly hideous apparition that turns out to be an alien – but the CG that renders it (in broad daylight, to make things worse) looks like it was imported into the film from the early 1990s. The artificiality and, well, cheesiness of it is a distraction that nearly shipwrecks the movie. It’s hard to believe that the resources weren’t available to allow this aspect of the film to look better – the other aliens that we meet later aren’t a significant improvement – and the idea that this is intentional on Na’s part, as a kind of nostalgic nod to that era, doesn’t hold up.
This, combined with a long second act that features a gross, way-too-long story about an old man’s bout with diarrhea, as well as a visit to an oddball carpenter’s workshop to discover a clue about the aliens’ motivations, grind ‘Hope’ down considerably after that blast of a first hour. The last third of the movie picks up the flagging pace with a centerpiece pursuit down a mountain road involving an alien, a car, a horse, and a man trying to jump from the animal to the vehicle. It’s an exhilarating, white-knuckle tour de force, capped by a punchline so shockingly funny that it’s almost a shame it gets redeemed in the mid-credits scene (yes, stay for that).
But just as Na undercuts his first hour by showing too much of the aliens and slowing down the pace, he pulls the rug out from under us again by literally just stopping the movie, with the entire plot – the fate of the town and the aliens – unresolved. It’s a clear setup for a sequel, but done so abruptly that audiences may walk out very unhappy.
Cast and Performances
‘Hope’ is graced with a terrific, game cast to get it over the rough spots. Na’s regular collaborator, Hwang Jung-min, is excellent as Bum-seok, with the police chief starting out arrogant and irritable, then plunging headlong (and rather courageously) into an overwhelming situation, taking a beating along the way but never flagging in his duties – even if he makes some truly bumbling mistakes along the way.
Newcomer Hoyeon is the film’s other standout as Sung-ae, the deputy showing utter fearlessness, wits, intelligence, and resourcefulness, and marking the actor as an immediately charismatic screen presence. Zo In-sung and Lee Sang-hee also deliver distinctive performances, chewing the scenery frequently but painting funny and indelible characters.
It’s the non-Korean contingent, led by movie stars Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, that are the least impressive, only because they’re simply providing voices for aliens about which we know little and about which the film’s rules seem to change minute by minute. Whether the inconsistency and murkiness surrounding the invaders will be resolved with further exploration in a sequel remains to be seen.
Final Thoughts
Yes, ‘Hope’ is overlong and shaggy – there are a number of spots where the movie could be tightened up – and while we don’t want to harp on it, we have to point out again that the CG used for the aliens in the movie can be a major distraction. But Na Hong-jin directs the hell out of most of the movie, with its first and last thirds in particular offering up nothing less than a master class in action, suspense, and tone.
This is one weird but breathlessly exciting ride, despite its issues, and the director gets the most out of his cast and crew on almost every practical level (particularly cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, who does outstanding, well-lit, immersive work here in both Korean locales and the lush forests of Romania). ‘Hope’ is not perfect, but it’s a welcome return for Na Hong-jin. Let’s hope that he works out the kinks for his next film, and doesn’t take another 10 years to make it.
‘Hope’ receives a score of 80 out of 100.
What is the plot of ‘Hope’?
In a remote South Korean village, police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) is called to find a mysterious creature that has wreaked havoc. In the nearby forest, a coterie of local hunters, including Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), set out to track the beast and find themselves hunted instead. But all is not what it seems, as the conflict turns into a tragedy of cosmic proportions.
Who is in the cast of ‘Hope’?
- Hwang Jung-min as Police Chief Bum-seok
- Zo In-sung as Sung-ki
- Hoyeon as Officer Sung-ae
- Um Mun-suk as Yang-bae
- Lee Sang-hee as Ahn Nak-yeon
- Im Hyun-sik as Mr. Hae-sul
- Michael Fassbender as Ma’veyyo
- Alicia Vikander as J’aur
- Taylor Russell as Ai’dovor
- Cameron Britton as Va’migere
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