In our age of modern-day blockbusters, what does it mean to be self-aware of one's own violence? Questions like that have been posited in film for decades now, with a differing perspective on the subject coming every few years to add something new to the conversation. It's not hard to see a writer/director like Na Hong-jin ("The Wailing," "The Yellow Sea") adding something to the conversation with his big CGI monsters and fights and small-town struggles. However, whether or not he is actually interested in adding anything is an entirely different story.
Set in the small Korean town of Hope Harbor, "Hope" follows police chief Ko Bum-seok, played by Hwang Jung-min (" You Are My Sunshine," "12.12: The Day"), and rookie cop Im Sung-ae, played by Jung Ho-yeon ("Squid Game"), as they investigate the destruction of a nearby town by an unknown entity. After teaming up with a local firearms expert Ko Sung-ki, played by Zo In-sung (" Something Happened in Bali," " Escape from Mogadishu"), they discover that the creature wreaking havoc is actually an alien leader J'aur, played by Alicia Vikander ("Ex Machina," "The Green Knight") and her bodyguard Ma'veyyo, played by Michael Fassbender ("X-Men: First Class," "Steve Jobs").
Hong-jin's film is immediately engrossing. In draws you in with slow, tense moments that spend the bulk of the first hour expertly setting up the mystery surrounding the destruction. It serves as a showcase for a truly fantastic amount of practical effects and production design, tearing this small Korean town to shreds and allowing the audience and Bum-seok to wade through the aftermath. It almost feels like a detective story, as you piece together clues in the scenery to try and discern what this creature might be. Then the reveal: a hulking nine-foot tall sickly green humanoid alien creature with long slick hair, created using some of the worst CGI in modern moviemaking.
This is where the film's first big tonal shift becomes apparent. The CGI on the aliens looks so particularly bad and uncanny that it comes across as completely intentional. Surely, a director with as much acclaim and experience as Hong-jin wouldn't approve of something that looks like this, right? The fact that this is then followed by an extended period of downtime without any action, and some truly bizarre dialogue. Who doesn't want to hear about how an elderly man discovered the aliens as a result of having diarrhea? It's so odd that it still manages to be enrapturing as you wonder what direction things will go in next.
For as odd as things get, Hong-jin's cast are all completely game for the material. Jung-min is a great stoic kind of action lead that lets his fears bleed through to create a relatable and realistic kind of protagonist. Ho-yeon fluctuates between a cool badass and a bumbling goof in a myriad of endearing ways. Sung-ki is a slimy kind of oddball that feels like a teenager who never grew up, and he makes for a great foil against Hong-jin's more mature character. Vikander and Fassbender are completely bizarre in their casting, as the pair never speak any English or even any discernable language. The fact that they are here for only a handful of moments in total, speaking an entirely made-up language, makes for one of the film's biggest and oddest swings.
While much of the appeal here is how odd the project is, what is undeniably excellent is the film's action. Hong-jin and cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo ("Parasite," "Save the Green Planet!") shoot the film with a blistering sense of action. The combination of CGI and practical effects, despite the former's shoddy look, are seamless. The first and last hour hit the gas and never let up, giving the same feeling as "Fury Road" or other breakneck action flicks. Even if you don't agree with the rest of the film's bizarre, almost satirical approach to its plot, the action sequences alone are fantastic enough to be worth the price of admission. Especially with a score from Michael Abels ("Get Out," "NOPE") backing it up; his music sounds like an odd alien western action flick mixture that becomes as fascinating as the film itself the longer things go on.
"Hope" is an oddball of a film, one far more bizarre than its marketing would have you believe. The plot is both extremely detailed and also superfluous, the performances are completely committed to the insanity, and the practical effects are excellent, juxtaposed against some truly awful (possibly purposefully so) CGI effects. Na Hong-jin's latest film is an oddity, plain and simple, almost satirical in its execution of action movie filmmaking and storytelling. But it is a wild ride of an oddity that will keep you engrossed even while baffling you. 3.5/5
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