Hope

An old saying maintains “Never put the cart before the horse,” an observation whose implications should be obvious. That applies in filmmaking, too: When a standalone production is thought to be the inspiration for a new franchise, the creators need to be careful not to get ahead of themselves. That’s to say that the first film in the proposed series absolutely must be a knock-out to earn the right to a sequel (or sequels) (“Star Trek” notwithstanding). But, if those behind the initial effort are so focused on what lies down the road in a potential franchise that they don’t get the first release right, it’s the equivalent of shooting themselves in the foot. And that is precisely what undermines this latest release from writer-director Na Hing-jin. In essence, this sci-fi action-adventure follows the improbable, occasionally strangely madcap attempts by a small town South Korean police force and others to hunt down a mysterious monster that’s wreaking all manner of havoc in their community and the surrounding environment. The problem, though, is that little is explained as the story unfolds, with an array of tropes that seem unconscionably thrown together – virtually no back story, a disjointed, poorly constructed narrative, woefully cheap CGI, a plot based almost entirely on clichés, frenetic action sequences, and absurd, sometimes patently inappropriate comic relief, and more overused expletives than seen in “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013). While the film admittedly gets off to a reasonably well-managed start, coming across as a fusion between the “Godzilla” movies and the folksy, homespun nature of “Fargo” (1996), it’s an opening act that’s ultimately unforgivably drawn out (building suspense is one thing, but knowing that a big reveal is coming and taking 45 minutes to get there is a bit much). And, sadly, things go downhill from there, with a story that makes little sense stretched out to a stunning 2:39:00 runtime, overstaying its welcome by nearly an hour. My only “hope” for the picture at that point was that it was mercifully heading to wrap things up with some kind of coherent explanation that, unfortunately, never comes. And that’s where the focus of what’s to be included in future franchise installments intrudes upon the credibility and integrity of this release. What’s even more mystifying here is the high praise that this overlong saga has received both in critics’ circles and at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, where “Hope” was inexplicably awarded a Palme d’Or nomination, the event’s highest honor. Moviegoers looking for entertaining scary fare along these lines have so many other, better choices to draw from, such as “Jaws” (1975), “Jurassic Park” (1993) and the recently released “The End of Oak Street” (2026). Please, watch one of those titles instead.

The discovery of a badly mauled cow is quite perplexing for the local police chief (Hwang Jung-min), especially when a few of his wise-cracking citizens suggest it might have been caused by a marauding tiger! It doesn't take him long to realise that whatever it is, it's a great deal bigger and more menacing than a cat as he returns to town and finds scenes of death and destruction with gunfire sounding regularly. What are they shooting at? Meantime, out in the woods his group of mischievous tiger-hunters are finding themselves embroiled in something altogether more mysterious, extra-terrestrial and perilous too! Ok, so it is far too long and for much of the later stages it reminded me of an hybrid of that lacklustre "65" (2023) and "Predator" (1987) - only with some added semi-slapstick comedy, but the first hour is quickly paced and entertaining end-to-end stuff. There's a bit of comedy horror; some welcome sarcasm delivered front and centre of the pithy and earthy script and the fact that we don't encounter their powerful new foe for almost all of that phase of the film manages to build an enjoyable sense of anticipation. Just what could be tossing people and cars so effortlessly? Once we meet their new nemesis, however, this plot quickly starts to lose it's sharpness and actually, despite a lively effort from the feisty "Sung Ae" (Hoyeon), becomes just a little too repetitious. Seemingly endless supplies of ammunition and never ending empty roads start to give the film a distinctly video-game feel supported by some CGI that can be a little ropey at times. The really quite disappointing conclusion left me wondering whether they just ran out of filming days or whether there might be plans for a sequel if this does well enough at the box office, but in any event it doesn't really satisfy and the few clues we are given about their visitors and their motivation are oblique at best. There's no denying that it's good fun to watch, though, with plenty of action, explosives and even a few horses - but it could have lost forty-five minutes and been none the worse for it.