Film Review | Monstrous Action Figure Study

Hope, from Korean writer-director Na Hong-jin, is that rare film with enough arthouse cred to be nominated for this year’s Palm d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival, while also giving action and monster movie fans a fast-paced feast for their money. In other words, it’s a buckle-your-mental-seat belt adrenaline dump of a moviegoing experience, also being outfitted with something for cinephiles to chew on, and later pontificate upon. 

This is a film in which about two hours of its 2:40 running time is spent in the state of agitation and excitation. Unconventional pacing is just one of the intriguing quirks of this film, starting with the first protracted and relentlessly edge-of-your seat sequence, which becomes an exercise in “wait for it” suspense-baiting.

We’re dying to know: just who or what is this pernicious monster wreaking destruction on the small Korean town of Hope Harbor, near the North Korean Demilitarized Zone? Our curiosity is expertly piqued, and so is the curiosity of our protagonist Ko Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min), the bedraggled police chief who doggedly pursues the trail of some force of extreme menace, through the rubble on the streets. 

We only get to meet our monster movie “foe” about an hour into the film, and he/she is not pretty to behold. Amidst its raging carnage and fury, though, hints of sympathy for this devil enter in, triggered by the sight of its weeping eyes while being chased. That sense of vulnerability and a deeper sympathetic backstory periodically humanizes the monsters, in a way similar to the empathetic backstory of Frankenstein’s monster.

In the third act, once we meet the newly spooky alien creatures (actually played by Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander) towards the end of the film, the plot has thickened to the point of redefining the motives and character fiber of the creatures we are supposed to fear and loathe. It’s complicated.

After the breathless velocity of the first act, dramatic expansion and relaxation settle in for a spell. Humor and at least some character study moves are allowed into the story, before the next wave of action packaging. Before long, things heat and speed up again. At certain points, the density and intensity of action and chase-kill scenery threaten to push the boundaries of viewer patience (excepting the action film obsessive among us). But in one of those late-breaking moments of seeming excess, things segue into a tautly-choreographed climactic car chase scene which could become a classic in the annals of action cinema. 

Sight and sound factors are firmly in place in this film, conspiring to ramp up the thrill ride quotient. Cinematography by Hong Kyung-pyo (Parasite) blends seamlessly with advanced use of CGI and VFX to make for a tingly and visceral visual impact, in sync with a “you are there” sound design and a masterful suspense-calibrating score by Michael Abels (who also did the music for Jordan Peel’s films).

For this one, bring both your popcorn and your notebook, mental or otherwise. And be prepared to shiver as you ponder.