Review: 'Hope' imports big-budget monster pandemonium from South Korea

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Set us as preferred Across the history of movies, filmgoers have occasionally felt the rush of a new kineticism breaking free of prior standards, thanks to the Kurosawas, Friedkins, Spielbergs, Camerons and Millers of the world who’ve expanded the form.Now comes nerve-jangling Korean director Na Hong-jin, long a revered force in genre cinema thanks to “The Yellow Sea” and “The Wailing,” with his own bid for immortality, the alien-monster tempest “Hope.”Though the title has literal meaning — it’s the name of the quaint harbor burg where the bad things start — it’s also true to Na’s chaos-carnival ambitions, as well as being ironic about the diminishing prospects for his besieged heroes.

As to whether this setpiece-driven epic is a game-changer, your mileage may vary.But it can still lay claim to being a flagship roller coaster, one with enough mechanical and storytelling hitches to give it a tantalizing oddness.It’s quite scenic and peaceful-looking in cozy Hope, as cinematographer Hong Kyung-po casually depicts from the opening frames.

But the mauled cow splayed on a lonely farm road signals to irritable local police chief Bum-seok (Hwang Jung-min) and chill pal Sung-ki (Zo In-sung) that a large, clawed threat is nearby.The investigating pair split up, with Sung-ki joining gung-ho fellow hunters to see if there’s a tiger loose and Bum-seok driving alone into town, where the evidence increases: mutilated bodies, gaping holes in buildings, emptied, wrecked streets, distant gunfire and smoke.

Can the culprit actually be some big freaky monster? When Bum-seok frantically demands a descriptive clarification from a hunkered, terrified colleague who’s seen the thing, the man barks back, “Who cares? That’s not the point!” Movies Director Na Hong-jin’s latest, a sci-fi adventure co-starring Micha...