There’s a sly sight gag relatively early in Na Hong-jin’s blockbuster-in-the-making, Hope, in which the camera gazes over the wreckage of a rural village in the Korean Demilitarized Zone, lingering just a moment on a propaganda sign reading “Protect the Nation From Infiltration.” It’s a little late to heed that warning even though at that point, the infiltration is still believed to be a single-digit threat. But that one rampaging invader unleashes enough destruction and mayhem for a whole army, hurling cars and trucks and motorcycles through the air like toys, tearing though buildings as if they were made of cardboard, and leaving the streets littered with bloodied corpses.
It’s a great feeling to know from a movie’s first frames that you’re in the hands of an assured genre auteur. The rare action thriller that takes place almost entirely in broad daylight, Hope pulls you in immediately with its virtuoso camerwork, pulse-pounding score, adrenalized pacing and sharply drawn characters.
Hope
The Bottom Line
A wildly entertaining assault of turbo-charged thrills.
