Hope

On second watch, I’m choosing to implement Rule of Cool ™️ in the sense that so much of action is staged and sequenced so gorgeously that I don’t particularly care that some of the VFX are rough around the edges. A big-budget/R-rated/original action epic in this ecosystem?…

Joe A

Gonzo action cinema at its finest, genre filmmaking of the highest order. You’re either on board or you’re not.

Joe A

Exact numbers have yet to be confirmed, but Na Hong-jin’s “Hope” is reportedly the most expensive movie ever made in Korea, with a rumored budget of ₩50 billion (which only translates to about $33 million USD). Whatever this 160-minute blockbuster actually cost, it was both…

davidehrlich

Some things can be massive and stupid and wildly captivating and so so childish and really just bananas all at the same time and that’s why we do it!

Ella Kemp

Has none of the redeeming qualities I came to love from Na’s other films. Just hours of repetitive, mindless action scenes of people shooting PS2 monsters. And then you find out it’s a part one! God damn I’m disappointed.

The Oscar Expert

Na Hong-Jin in aughts Bayhem mode with 160 minutes of unfiltered bombast that is equal parts exhilarating, disgusting, obnoxious, goofy and confounding all of which culminates in a car/horse chase for the ages which plays like Fatal Termination meets The Relic (seriously) —…

Justin LaLiberty

appropriate follow-up to The Substance, as in 'Cannes letting genre splasher into their so well preserved competition of sophisticated cinema'. I said it under point 3.) for the Fargeat two years ago: it's like Fremaux and team see times are changing and implement the most…

shookone

It takes an hour into Na Hong-jin’s destabilizing yet raucously entertaining actioner, “Hope,” to see the creature causing mayhem in a small rural South Korean mining town. Before then, an arresting tornado of carnage fills the frame. The police chief Bum-seok (Hwang…

Robert Daniels

I can’t think of another film that’s so ruined by extremely undercooked CGI and, more importantly, poor monster design The wide-angle cinematography and tactile production design are immersive. This will test your tolerance for a film that’s all action and no story. I can…

Brother Bro