Is ‘Hope’ the ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ of monster movies?

The article highlights director Na Hong-jin's latest film, "Hope," which follows his acclaimed work in the gritty Korean thriller genre.

Unlike prolific directors, Na takes time between projects, returning with a film that balances technical mastery with a simplistic narrative driven by extraordinary action craftsmanship.

Despite some critiques of its visual effects and a jarring shift towards franchise potential, the film is praised for its kinetic energy and precise editing, showcasing Na's continued ability to elevate genre cinema. "Hope" polarizes audiences, drawing distinct lines between casual viewers and those who value raw visual storytelling.

SEPTEMBER 19 — Some auteurs, like Takashi Miike, Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Michal Winterbottom, are effortlessly prolific, churning out a new feature every couple of years with factory-like regularity.

Some directors, like Hong Sang-soo, who’s made 35 films in 30 years, are even beyond prolific. And then there are directors like Na Hong-jin.

Ever since his breakthrough with 2008’s The Chaser , Na has taken his own sweet time between projects.

While The Chaser established his mastery over the gritty Korean thriller and The Yellow Sea pushed that kinetic violence to near-unbearable extremes with bigger set-pieces, it was 2016’s The Wailing that solidified him as a modern master.

That film, a terrifying, hallucinatory masterpiece of supernatural dread and rural paranoia, remains my absolute favorite of his work.

Now, a full decade later, Na has finally returned with Hope , a film that is as utterly unhinged as it is technically extraordinary.

On paper, Hope arrives with a massive reputation, billed as having the biggest budget in Korean cinematic history at a reported US$40 million (RM163 million).

But let’s put that into perspective for a second. In the bloated ecosystem of contemporary Hollywood, US$40 million is practically pocket change.

It’s what American studios spend on a mid-tier studio comedy, a couple of superhero reshoots, or marketing campaigns alone.

Yet, what Na Hong-jin manages to wring out of that price tag puts US$200 million Western blockbusters to absolute shame.

Unsurprisingly, critical reactions out of its early screenings have been intensely divided.

This is a true “love it or hate it” movie in the purest sense. If you walk into the cinema expecting a complex, intricate narrative with layered plot twists, political allegory, or heavy emotional subtext, this film is simply not for you.

In terms of pure narrative, Hope is, quite frankly, a “nothing” film.

Set in Port Hope, an isolated Korean seaside village near the Demilitarized Zone, the story kicks off when local police officers investigate a series of mysterious attacks on livestock.

That single incident quickly spirals into a relentless, nightmare siege against an unknown, terrifying alien entity lurking in the surrounding wilderness.

And... that is essentially it.

The plot doesn’t branch out into multi-layered investigative detours or deep character backstories. It is a straight line of pure, visceral survival from start to finish.

Where Hope becomes an absolute “everything” film, however, is in its pure action craftsmanship.

Much like George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road , Na treats narrative merely as an ignition key to start a two-hour plus engine of kinetic mayhem.

If you have any experience with making films, or even a passing appreciation for the mechanics of cinema, you will spend the entire runtime marvelling at the sheer technical achievements on display here.

Working alongside legendary cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo ( The Wailing , Parasite ), and his longtime editor Kim Sun-min, Na constructs set-pieces that feel like they shouldn’t logically exist.

The editing, in particular, is a masterclass. In an era where fast cuts are often used to hide cheap stunt work, the rhythm of Hope ’s editing is astonishingly precise.

Every cut carries physical momentum, every transition makes absolute sense despite the chaotic mood, and the audio design works in tandem with the visual cuts to create a sensory assault that leaves you breathless.

Long tracking shots weave seamlessly into fast reaction cuts, building a sense of escalating panic that never sacrifices spatial clarity.

That said, the film isn’t entirely without its stumbles. For one, the visual effects are a notable letdown.

Despite the record-breaking domestic budget, the film’s CGI unfortunately looks pretty cheap and distracting.

When the alien threats move out of the murky shadows and into full view, the digital rendering lacks the weight and texture of the practical sets surrounding it, creating a frustrating clash between top tier physical filmmaking and undercooked VFX.

Even more distracting, though, is a sudden, jarring shift towards the end.

Right when the film should be barreling toward a clean, visceral finish, it stumbles into lore-building territory.

A giant alien ship suddenly crashes to Earth, and out of nowhere, the alien dialogue becomes subtitled when it was previously completely incomprehensible.

Hints of backstory are abruptly dumped on the audience in what is clearly a move to set up a sequel should the box office numbers justify it.

I get the business rationale behind franchise building, but if Na had just kept this one minimalist, lean, and all-action all the way to the end, it would have been absolute perfection.

As the polarising reactions have proved, Hope will unfortunately alienate casual moviegoers who prioritise script density, seamless CGI, and elaborate exposition over raw visual storytelling.

hoBut for those of us who appreciate genre cinema elevated to the level of pure, unadulterated craft, Na Hong-jin has delivered an audacious, heart pounding triumph that proves why he is still worth waiting a decade for.

* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.

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文章重点介绍了导演罗泓轸的最新电影《希望》，该片延续了他广受好评的韩国硬派惊悚片风格。

与多产的导演不同，罗志祥在拍摄新片之间会留出一段时间，他回归之作将精湛的技术与简洁的叙事手法完美结合，并以非凡的动作技巧为驱动。

尽管影片的视觉效果和略显突兀的系列电影倾向受到了一些批评，但其动感十足的节奏和精准的剪辑依然备受赞誉，展现了娜娜持续提升类型电影水准的能力。《希望》引发了观众的两极分化，在普通观众和那些重视纯粹视觉叙事的观众之间划出了一条清晰的界限。

9 月 19 日 — 一些电影大师，如三池崇史、赖纳·维尔纳·法斯宾德和米歇尔·温特伯顿，创作力惊人，每隔几年就能像工厂一样稳定地推出一部新作。

有些导演，比如洪尚秀，30年拍了35部电影，简直是高产。还有像罗泓轸这样的导演。

自从2008年凭借《追击者》一举成名以来，罗志祥一直给自己留出一段悠闲的创作时间。

《追击者》确立了他对韩国硬派惊悚片的驾驭能力，《黄海》则通过更宏大的场景将这种动感十足的暴力推向了近乎令人难以忍受的极端，但真正让他成为现代大师的，是 2016 年的《哭声》。

那部电影是一部令人毛骨悚然、充满幻觉的杰作，展现了超自然恐惧和乡村偏执，至今仍是我最喜欢的他的作品。

十年后的今天，娜终于带着《希望》回归，这部电影既疯狂又技术非凡。

从纸面上看，《希望》这部电影声名显赫，据称其预算高达 4000 万美元（1.63 亿令吉），是韩国电影史上预算最高的电影。

但让我们换个角度来看。在如今好莱坞臃肿的生态系统中，4000万美元简直就是九牛一毛。

这相当于美国电影公司在中等规模的喜剧片、几部超级英雄电影的补拍，或者仅仅是营销活动上的花费。

然而，罗泓轸凭借这部电影所展现出的才华，让耗资 2 亿美元的西方大片相形见绌。

不出所料，该片早期试映后的评论褒贬不一。

这是一部真正意义上的“要么爱死要么恨死”的电影。如果你走进影院期待的是一部情节复杂、环环相扣、充满政治寓意或情感深意的影片，那么这部电影绝对不适合你。

就纯粹的叙事而言，《希望》这部电影坦率地说是“一无是处”。

故事发生在韩国非军事区附近一个偏僻的海滨村庄——希望港。故事的开端是当地警察调查一系列神秘的牲畜袭击事件。

那起单一事件迅速演变成一场无情的噩梦般的围攻，对抗潜伏在周围荒野中的未知、恐怖的外星实体。

基本上就是这样。

剧情没有展开多层次的调查支线，也没有深入刻画人物背景故事。从头到尾，它都是一条纯粹的、本能的生存之路。

然而，《希望》之所以能成为一部绝对的“全能”电影，在于其纯粹的动作制作技巧。

就像乔治·米勒的《疯狂的麦克斯：狂暴之路》一样，纳将叙事仅仅视为启动两个多小时的动感混乱引擎的点火钥匙。

如果你有任何电影制作经验，或者哪怕只是对电影制作的机制略知一二，你都会在观看这部电影的过程中，惊叹于影片所展现的精湛技术。

罗志祥与传奇摄影师洪京杓（《哭声》、《寄生虫》）以及他的长期剪辑师金善敏合作，构建出一些感觉上不应该存在的场景。

尤其值得一提的是剪辑，堪称大师级水准。在这个快节奏剪辑常常被用来掩盖廉价特技的时代，霍普的剪辑节奏却精准得令人惊叹。

每一次剪辑都带有物理动感，每一次过渡尽管气氛混乱却都完全合情合理，音频设计与视觉剪辑相辅相成，创造出一种令人窒息的感官冲击。

长镜头与快速反应剪辑无缝衔接，营造出一种不断升级的恐慌感，同时又不失空间清晰度。

话虽如此，这部电影也并非完全没有瑕疵。首先，视觉效果令人失望。

尽管该片的国内预算创下纪录，但遗憾的是，其电脑特效看起来相当廉价，令人分心。

当外星威胁从昏暗的阴影中走出，完全出现在视野中时，数字渲染缺乏周围实景布景的厚重感和质感，造成了一流实景电影制作和不成熟的视觉特效之间的令人沮丧的冲突。

然而，更令人分心的是结尾处突然出现的突兀转变。

正当影片应该朝着干净利落、扣人心弦的结局疾驰而去时，它却突然陷入了构建背景故事的领域。

一艘巨大的外星飞船突然坠落地球，原本完全无法理解的外星对话突然出现了字幕。

影片突然抛出一些背景故事线索给观众，这显然是为了在票房成绩允许的情况下推出续集而采取的策略。

我理解特许经营背后的商业逻辑，但如果 Na 能一直保持这家店的极简主义、精简和全速前进的风格，那它就完美了。

正如两极分化的反应所证明的那样，《希望》不幸地疏远了那些更注重剧本密度、无缝 CGI 和精心铺陈而非纯粹视觉叙事的普通影迷。

但对于我们这些欣赏类型电影并将其提升到纯粹、不掺杂任何杂质的艺术高度的人来说，罗泓轸带来了一部大胆、令人心跳加速的胜利之作，证明了为什么他仍然值得我们等待十年。

* 这是专栏作家的个人观点。

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