Action-packed and relentless, Na Hong-jin’s Hope is a tireless sci-fi action thriller whose story unfolds over a single day during an alien attack. It’s a long film, running at approximately 156 minutes, but you don’t feel it. Every scene is loaded with information, steadily building the tension before erupting into a hair-raising battle across a tiny, quaint seaside town in northern South Korea and simultaneously the surrounding woods. Surprisingly, there’s not a lot of stories here, yet the film keeps you rooted by giving us characters to root for and energetic action sequences that send the adrenaline pumping.
Hope follows Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min), the police chief of a quiet coastal town called Hope Harbor. He begins by investigating what initially appears to be a violent animal attack on a large cow, except the deep wounds are larger than any local animal in the area and the cow’s bloody carcass is left uneaten. While hunters, led by Sung-ki (Zo In-sung), rally into the surrounding woods to investigate, Bum-seok returns to town only to discover that whatever creature had attacked the cow has already reached Hope Harbor.
For a good 50 minutes, Na withheld the monster entirely. Instead, we are shown the massive carnage the creature has wrought upon the town. Whatever this thing is, it operates with destructive, massive, and terrifying efficiency. Through it, we come to understand Bum-seok and Sung-ki as characters as the tension over the creature builds. We get to know the town too and see how quickly the whole community spring into action.
The setup reminds us that South Korea has one of the most well-trained populace where nearly every adult male has undergone military service. Everyone knows how to handle a firearm and very surprisingly, in this little town of Hope Harbor reveals an access to military-grade weaponry that appears out of nowhere. When Bum-seok asks the townsfolk on where they got the arsenal, their response is “Don’t ask.” Later, when his rookie officer, Sung-ae (Hoyeon), rescues him, she answers the exact same line.
Clearly, there is more to this town than meets the eye. By the time Na finally reveals the monster, which we later learn are aliens, we already know these characters well, we know the ins-and-outs of the town and the surrounding woods, and we can see how powerful the aliens are. These extraterrestrials possesses immense power and it’s going to take far more than a handful of firearms to bring one down, let alone four.
Once the action starts, it never lets up. Director Na, who is also the screenwriter, along with cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo do a marvelous job of keeping the energy running. It’s fast-paced, with dynamic coverage. Because these creatures are fast and strong and so there’s a lot of running, high-speed car chases, and endless gunfire, so its soundscape is loud and heart-racing. It really gets you into the moment and it does the trick in immersing you in the immediate danger.
It slows down again in the middle to explain things just a little bit before ramping up the danger and bringing us back into the action again so that we can see Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell, and Cameron Britton as the faces of these aliens. Interestingly enough, every alien is rendered through motion-captured performance CGI, and Na has cast western actors in that role. Does this have an anti-colonial message behind it?
I’m not sure, really. As noted earlier, there’s not much of a story. There’s no character that truly grows out of an internal conflict. Hope operates as a pure, adrenaline-inducing ride, and that’s fine. I got what I needed from this film, and it doesn’t have to have some profound thematic message, though it does reserve something interesting, unexpected turn at the very end of the film.
With a big, epic imagery that amps up the destruction to its peak, the aliens finally get to speak in the film’s climax. And from their brief dialogue, we are giving hints of a story that the audience isn’t privy to because we’ve been following the humans in the film. These aliens have their own backstory. There’s a larger story here at play; but it’s none of our concern. Na Hong-jin, as a filmmaker, is only interested in the South Koreans in the story and I love that about the film.
My Rating: 4 Stars
Experience the heart-pounding action and high-octane thrill of Hope on the big screen. Form your own verdict on Na Hong-jin’s sci-fi spectacle: now showing in cinemas nationwide. Get showtimes here.
