Hope – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Hope – Monsters of a Harbor Town … Will you Survive?

In the simple pleasures of entertainment, we look at it with a certain feeling.  That point of pleasure becomes a harness filled grip that pulls us through a journey that is either full of happiness or fraught with fragility.  For action films, it is a grip that can provide the thrills of a good time.  In this review, I look at the latest action film to hit the big screen.  From the onus of simplicity, we head down a path that becomes an odd mixture of escape and mystery.  Even when confusion arises, Hope is a genuine action journey that shows the meaning of survival. 

When desperation meets survival, locals of a harbor town will have to fight for their lives against … something of unknown origins.  Action films are a mixture of obvious details and leveled expectations.  When you see a combination of fast-paced visuals, gun battles and explosions … it becomes a cyclical trail of ‘been there / done that’.  It is a genre filled with predictability, but that doesn’t always mean it can’t be a good time.  With this Korean action film, it builds from a general foundation but becomes something else entirely.  The film starts with a mysterious call from the locals, when the police chief travels to a nearby farm, finding out that one of the livestock has been killed by atypical means.  After a sequence of grounded conversational scenes, the group diverges into two paralleling paths: one group heads to the forest and the police chief heads back to town to answer ‘distress’ calls.  From here, the journey kicks into high gear as ‘signs’ of other worldly things lead to a linear path of collateral, deaths and destruction.  As both groups begin to put the pieces together, they realize the lives of this small harbor town will never be the same.  As the film builds from an action foundation, it starts to dance between mystery and survival elements.  This melding of genres turns predictable tropes into scenes grounded by the sensibilities of culture and human nature.  From dialogue to visual aesthetics, the dynamics are not in forced dramatic sequences, but in a general reactive nature of the moment.  This unique directive drives the journey into elements drawn from K-Drama motifs, infusing obscurity and off-the-cuff dialogue with the unexpected nature of survival.  From the police chief navigating the destruction in town to the forest group finding unearthly items, predictability becomes a twist of raw reactions and grounded emotions.  This lifts the film above the common action elements, creating a place that is genuine, but surreal.

As the journey weaves between its dire moments and action aesthetics, the mystery at hand continues to drive the thread.  For all the collateral at play, it is that onus of pursuing the creative in the mundane.  As the revelation of what the ‘monster is’ comes to light, it becomes something where details are driven by the audience.  The uncertainty of the town’s survival is one aspect, but the revelation about the monster becomes a whole different perspective.  This added layer leads into a third act that weaves between grounded action and ominous foreshadowing.  As new details arise, it breaks away from a traditional climax and builds towards an ambiguous definition of what it means to survive.  Hope is an adrenaline filled ride that turns into something more.  If you are a fan of Korean cinema, action and mystery, this is one for you.  For all that will stand out as atypical, this an enjoying film to see on the big screen.

Full Score – 3.5 out of 5 (Matinee)