"Hope" Marks Na Hong-jin's Return with a Peculiar Sci-Fi Epic

By Lee Minji

SEOUL, July 10 (Yonhap) -- "Hope," which marks "The Wailing" director Na Hong-jin's return after a decade, is a peculiar spectacle in many ways.

One of the priciest productions in Korean cinema history, the epic is billed as science fiction but is actually a mishmash of action, black comedy and suspense that leaves audiences wondering what they have just seen after its dizzying 156-minute runtime.

"Hope" follows local cops and villagers in the remote coastal town of Hopo -- whose name apparently comes from the English word hope -- as their lives are upended with the arrival of mysterious yet powerful creatures.

Set in a pre-smartphone era, presumably in the 1980s, the small number of villagers and police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) and officer Sung-ae (Jung Ho-yeon) are forced to fight the unwelcome visitors in the most analog environment -- think horses, guns and walkie-talkies.

The film begins with Bum-seok, villager Sung-ki (Zo In-sung) and his crew examining a mutilated cow teeming with flies in the middle of a country road.

From there, the first hour of "Hope" races ahead at full speed as Bum-seok and surviving villagers track an unseen presence -- is it a monster tiger they wonder -- only seen and heard through its roars, bloody footprints and gruesome remains of slain villagers.

Sung-ae, characteristically headstrong yet good-hearted, injects fresh adrenaline into the mayhem through a series of breathtaking car chases and straightforward lines where her personality shines through.

The latter part of the film, which moves out of the town into a vast forest, explores the dynamics between the extraterrestrial creatures and the villagers -- eventually disclosing what prompted the aliens to tear through the peaceful town and how even the smallest event can trigger a catastrophe.

While Sung-ae drives the high-octane action in the first half, Sung-ki takes over that role in the second, displaying impressive horseback-riding skills and an extraordinary ability to survive against all odds.

Amid the relentless suspense and action, the chitchat and corny but amusing jokes shared by the police officers and villagers give the science-fiction thriller a distinctly Korean flavor while offering audiences moments to catch their breath.

At a press conference following the movie's prerelease screening in South Korea, Na said he wanted actions to speak rather than words. For the most part, he succeeds.

Despite the criticism surrounding the visual effects, they are not distracting as expected, apart from one slow-motion sequence, and Na has vowed to continue to refine them before the film's local release next week.

What actually weakens the epic's momentum is its final segment, which seems overloaded with familiar philosophical questions on what it means to be human, to hope for something and to believe in it in a short span of time.

While such questions are valid, they do not sit smoothly with the weight and intensity of the spectacle that precedes them.

Nonetheless, "Hope" is a one-of-a-kind epic that delivers the kind of cinematic experience capable of captivating audiences and sets itself as a modern trailblazer in Korean sci-fi cinema.

It is set for release Wednesday.