Hope
Two hours and 40 minutes of kinetic action, chase scenes, suspense and thrills, HOPE defies quick explanation.
If you blended "Signs", "Independence Day", "Nope"and a post modern Western, you're still not even close to the clever, hugely enjoyable film that South Korean Writer/Director Na Hong-jin has created.
For its entire, nearly three hour running time, there are no moments that bore, just interludes where Hong-jin (The Yellow Sea, The Wailing) lets you catch your breath.
As the film opens, the Police Chief of a remote harbor town in South Korea, Seok (Hwang Jung-min) responds to the call of a dead cow in the middle of the road. Sharing cow mutilation with its genre sister US film "Nope", the animal looks like it was attacked by a huge animal, but the thing had to be HUGE.
Seok's deputy, Sung Ae (the excellent Hoyeon) soon responds to calls popping up all over town of people being attacked by something HUGE. The film does a great job of revealing ever so slowly what that thing is. Hoyeon trained for six months on fighting, driving and weapons and it shows. She's a bad-ass in the Ripley tradition that takes charge, the bigger the weapon the better.
Time and again and in escalating fashion, Hong-jin's sweeping camera follows Seok and Sung Ae's suspenseful exploration of parts of the city that look absolutely destroyed.
Loud roars are heard, cars are flung over buildings like basketballs. What the HELL are they up against?
I loved the care with which Hong-jin sets up three different stories and then pops back and forth between them for the duration of the film until the trio meet in incredibly exciting fashion.
The first follows the Chief as the scale and scope of what's happening in the town is revealed. Citizens mobilize, the deaths and size of the attacks grow in gory, exciting fashion.
The second storyline follows Sung Ae on her same quest for the truth of what's happening in her village. It's a good thing that the police department seems to have an unlimited supply of weaponry and ammo, they're going to need it.
The third story follows the Chief's second cousin Sung Ki (Zo In-sung, dripping action movie stardom), as he grabs his closest friends and goes out on the trail of what's happening. His quest leads into the woods around the town, where he discovers something incredible.
There are several good guy on horseback versus alien battles here that conjure up classic westerns if they were melded with the best of science fiction. They are a whole lot better than "Cowboys vs Aliens" ever dreamed of being.
The film juggles action scene after action scene, serving up everything from alien autopsies to brilliant one-on-one fights between our galactic guests and humans.
Surprises abound around every corner.
Some of the humor is played broadly, as often is the case in action films from South Korea. The Chief meets a local citizen Yang-Be (hilariously played by Eum Moon-suk) who is definitely not the sharpest tool in the shed. The surprises that his storyline serve up are of huge consequence, but Yang Be remains blissfully unaware. Putting him behind the wheel for the film's biggest chase scene that serves as the grand finale is a master stroke.
HOPE is the most expensive Korean film ever made, with a budget of $74 million. 90% of the special effects are excellent and I was having such a great time, it was easy to forgive some of the shots that seem less than polished. The creature work with both CGI and physical effects is superb.
I loved the way the film was set in the 1980's, so it takes the instant communication of smart phones and a camera in everyone's hands off the table.
The music score by Michael Abels (Nope, Us, Get Out) is excellent, pounding through you with a full symphony as all hell breaks out around you on screen.
Editor Sun-Min Kim deserves recognition for making the film feel about two hours long. It's visually stunning and delivers so much suspense you don't realize that you've been on the edge of your seat the entire time.
The credits list two A-list actors very familiar to American audiences as the leads. Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina, Jason Bourne) and Michael Fassbinder (Prometheus, The Killer) play the two main aliens. Don't expect to see too much of them in any way that you might recognize them, but they certainly bring presence in two roles that I won't say much about. The less you know going in, the better.
The creature design in truly original and outstanding.
What an absolute blast HOPE is.
I can hear some people complaining "it's got subtitles..whine whine". GROW UP!
"It's too long...I don't like any movies longer than 90 minutes". I have no logical response when I hear that. I just shake my head and walk away.
Original, funny, taut, stunning and action packed, HOPE is an A-ticket thrill ride for adults. Fasten your seatbelt and get your nose plugs ready. It gets an A.
Comments