I “Hope” You See This Movie

It’s been said that the ellipses, as well as the word “dude,” should not be used in professional writing.  That being said…dude, this was awesome. 

Korea has had a long and underrated history of monster movies, from old-school classics like Yonggary, Monster from the Deep and Pulgasari, to twenty-first century horrors like The Host and Train to Busan.  In an era where Korean cinema and Korean culture in general has taken a strong root in the American consciousness, more of this is deeply appreciated. 

Hope follows the more recent Korean monster fair in elevating its game.  Gone are the days where the sole reason to buy a ticket is to see someone in a rubber suit destroy miniature buildings.  (Even if that alone is a valid reason to see a movie).  Hope is a masterclass in suspense, delivering both thrills and depth, and should be seen on the big-screen. 

There is another monster movie that Hope should be compared to, and that is the 2008 cult classic Cloverfield.  While Cloverfield was a big Hollywood project and Hope is a smaller festival film, the two share a lot of similarities.  They both feature extremely intense sequences, have very relatable characters, focus the perspective on the humans far more than the monsters, and are super inventive. 

Hope is jam-packed with great, original ideas.  When people die in this movie, they get annihilated.  Even some of the things they survive are particularly intense.  Director Na Hong-jin’s imagination stretches beyond the destruction, though, and there are sequences and shots in this film that will remind the audience why they like to go to the movies. 

Reaction to this film has not been unanimous, and there are points of contention.  The most common complaint is the special effects.  There is no question that the special effects are jarring, unique, and sometimes even come off as amateurish. But, whether intentional or not, the bizarreness of those effects works wonder to make the monsters much more outlandish and alien.  It should also be noted that this review is about the theatrical release of the film, and it is possible that the effects were worse when this film played at the Cannes Film Festival. 

Another point of contention is that this film is undeniably front-loaded.  There is no question that the first fifty to sixty minutes of the film is by far the best part of a two-hour and forty-minute movie. There is so much suspense about what the monster looks like, what it is, why it’s attacking, and how the characters could possibly survive in the midst of action that is filmed like a war zone.  Once those questions get answered, your heart rate will go down.  That being said, the rest of the film is still very good, taking the audience on an adventure few can parallel, for the reasons stated above. 

Besides the loudness of a movie theater’s sound system amplifying the intensity of the sound design, and besides the big screen amplifying the creative shots, the biggest reason to go see Hope on the big screen is to avoid spoilers.  This movie has some very creative concepts which slowly unravel as the movie goes on, and it is so gratifying to see it happen in real time.  Hope has great characters, inventive ideas, an incredible imagination, a palpable intensity, and numerous other aspects that make it one of the best of the year.