Hope is a big and bold creature feature with wild swings and some misses
It's been ten long years since writer/director Na Hong-jin's last movie, The Wailing. His new movie, Hope, is a creature feature that continually toys around with genre filmmaking and expectations, and it's an absolute blast, at least about the first half. Like The Wailing, Hope veers from one direction to the next, often crisscrossing and mish mashing genres in the process. Hope's ending, however, will likely be polarizing to most viewers.
Hope stars Hwang Jung-min as Beom Seok, a police chief in a small fishing community. When the movie opens, his cousin, Sung Ki (Zo In-sung), calls his attention to mutilated cattle, and not long into the runtime, Sung Ki leads a hunting party into the woods, while Beom tracks the monster through the village, down one alleyway to the next, through streets of carnage, including many severed limbs, toppled cars, and utterly demolished houses. Initially, we don't see the apparent villain, but we hear it roar and catch glimpses of it as it flings cars and telephone poles at Beom and his fellow citizens.
Initially, Beom is presented as a hero, especially with his cool sunglasses, but it becomes apparent rather quickly that he's helpless against otherworldly creatures, and yes, there's more than one monster. It's the first indicator that this is not going to be the sci-fi movie, or even action feature that we expect it to be with clearcut protagonists and good guys that will triumph over an existential threat that's like a cross between Predator and Alien: Covenant. Meanwhile, Beom is eventually assisted by his deputy, the trigger-happy Sung Ae (Hoyeon), who constantly talks about killing the monsters. She has no sympathy and no remorse and thinks that ample ammunition will halt the threat. Sun Ae is another example of a rather bumbling hero, and to an extent, so is Sun Ki, who fashions himself an expert hunter and even a cowboy, but he's ultimately powerless against a much larger force.
For about the first half of the movie, the action hardly relents. There are multiple chase scenes, explosions, and deaths. It's a nerve-jangling ride that's definitely entertaining. Along the way, there's also lots of humor, including a survivor who gives a strange, yet oddly funny monologue about his encounter with the creatures in the woods and how he had diarrhea but had to hold it in to keep his location hidden. Additionally, Hoyeon is great as Sung Ae and constantly delivers punchline after punchline, while gleefully waving a gun in the air. Yet nearly all of the film's characters are undercooked and practically paper-thin. That may be intentional on Hong-jin's part to make them so one-dimensional. Sure, we want them to be capable heroes, but they're not. They're mostly fools who often escape, evade, or injure the monsters based on pure luck and chance, not because of their skills. This is best depicted during a scene late in the movie when the survivors run across a bridge as debris falls around them like a warzone, and all they can do is keep running. They have no plan how to survive beyond that, let alone save the rest of the town.
Hope also contains some not-so-subtle commentary about immigration and the idea of a line and border. Sung Ae yells at the creatures more than once for "crossing the line." This is especially resonant right now with the rise of far-right global populism and anti-immigrant rhetoric. Meanwhile, the Korean Demilitarized Zone also looms large in the film. The social commentary is there, but it never feels preachy.
The film's main flaw is its jarring ending. It's a left turn that feels too abrupt and sudden. Is it sequel bait? Is Hong-jin merely toying with the audience with the idea of a sequel? It's hard to say, and the aliens look like giant CGI creations based off of Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, who voice them.
Overall, Hope is a wild creature feature that's a non-strop thrill ride for a majority of the film. Like The Wailing, Hong-jin combines genres and adds doses of humor. He does this will constantly thwarting the audience's expectations. Some of it works, but it's the ending that doesn't quite stick and is a little too outlandish.
Hope is currently playing in theaters.
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