“Hope” is acted and paced with the gravity of a grand spectacle, but its content is closer to the string of early 21st century genre films that either spiritually or directly adapted video games. It’s not necessarily a bad formula; monster movies have been around forever, and a filmmaker of Na Hong-jin’s talent certainly has the capability to make an unapologetically relentless mashup of horror, science fiction, and action. “Hope” is certainly that, but it’s also far much more, and the indulgence isn’t a merit. It would be possible to clip most individual sequences out of “Hope” and frame it as an exhilarating proof-of-concept, but at 160 minutes it’s a draining theatrical experience.
The little that is explained about the backdrop to “Hope” is given within an effectively eerie opening sequence in which the Hope Harbor village police chief Ko Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) is called to investigate the disturbing killing of a cow that was reported by his cousin, Ko Sung-ki (Zo In-sung). Although some of the locals speculate that a tiger is responsible, nothing about the death reads familiar, and thus Bum-seok sets off on a quest to track down the real culprit. It’s quickly thereafter that Bum-seok discovers a mysterious alien creature that is hell-bent on destroying and living creatures in its path, and he’s only narrowly rescued by the rookie cop Im Sung-ae (Jung Ho-yeon). Together, they band with a group of locals to track the creature down while desperately fighting for their own survival.
The plot is bare-boned, and the thematic nuances of the setting of the Kora Demilitarized Zone are only occasionally acknowledged. The purpose of the location is seemingly to create a justification for using an abandoned city and forest without any extras as the stage for an ongoing chase between the humans and their alien predator. The sorts of logistical constraints are understandable for a film that intends to be pulpy and punchy, but “Hope” takes so much time to isolate its characters that the lack of dimensionality is felt. If it weren’t for a passing line, the familial relationship between Bum-seok and Sung-ki could be missed completely.
The first act of “Hope” is undeniably its strongest because it is focused on the wreckage left behind by this enigmatic hunter, following Bum-seok as he tries to piece together clues that defy logic. Even if there’s almost nothing that can be said about his personality, other than that he’s a loyal cop who is willing to leap headfirst into danger, Bum-seok is an appropriate audience avatar made compelling by the charismatic performance by Hwang. That he reacts viscerally and emotionally to things that could not have been even remotely created on a practical set is the sign of someone with a tremendous amount of imagination, and Na is also smart enough to not deceive the audience. He knows that they know that the villain is not from this world, but the piecemeal revelation of the actual design is an effective means of creating tension.
The film begins to run into issues when that tension dissipates, as to say that the visual presentation of the extraterrestrial creatures is underwhelming would be an understatement. CGI has been used so prominently for decades that the audience eye has become overtly critical, and there’s been unfair criticisms of films that create expressly stylized effects. The issue with the CGI in “Hope” is that it is poorly rendered and pixilated, and there’s an attempt to simulate biological autonomy that isn’t conceivable in the slightest. The falseness of the effects are called out even more whenever there is violence, as the contrast between the poorly-realized character designs and the graphic gore makeup undermines them both.
A critique of how the film looks isn’t a nit pick when Na chooses to focus on these monsters for so long. Once the creatures are revealed, they’re rarely obscured by shadow and prominently appear in practical locations where there is no hiding the plasticity. That the film lingers on these images, relying on them to provoke awe or terror, only solidifies how repetitive the direction really is. There are only two major locations in “Hope,” and the set pieces seem to toggle back and forth between them. The groups of characters are divided up and reunited in ways that defy logic, and the pivotal relationship between Bum-seok and Sung-ae builds to an emotional conclusion that isn’t earned.
That the side characters are all emulating different broad caricatures is a criticism that could be leveled at a number of films within the same genre, but “Hope” doesn’t find a way to make them interesting. This isn’t a case like “Predator” or even “Transformers” where there’s a group of actors with strong personalities that can do away with subtly because of how they fit the roles; the group of stragglers can seemingly only exacerbate tension by making the most obvious mistakes imaginable, and it becomes challenging to care about them. Im Hyun-sik in particular is saddled with an awkward comic relief role that takes away precious screen time with an unfunny bit that doesn’t actually end up having a payoff.
The attempts to flesh out the mythology of the creatures themselves comes far too late in the film, and the attempts to create an alien language and culture can be simply described as hoaky. The marketing may have called attention to the presence of English-language actors like the married couple Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, who provided their voices for the creatures, but their efforts are only recognizable by the credits. The moment that the film takes to stage reveals about their background come at the most important moments in which the suspense is undercut.
There is too much good craftsmanship in “Hope” to dismiss it entirely, but it’s hard to think of another recent film that so clearly overstayed its welcome. To extend the length to such an extreme degree without the ideas needed to sustain it isn’t just a detriment to the entertainment value, but a disservice to a genre that can clearly be more. “Hope” dedicates much of its final act into setting up the premise for a sequel, but it’s not a prospect that is all that exciting.
