How to Kill a Franchise Before It Even Starts — SkimNews
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- Hope, directed by Na Hong-jin, carries a budget of nearly $75 million, making it the most expensive Korean film ever made and Na's first movie since The Wailing more than 10 years ago
- The 156-minute alien-invasion film follows police officer Bum-seok, played by Hwang Jung-min, who investigates mysterious claw-marked cow carcasses in the town of Hope Harbor near Korea's Demilitarized Zone
- Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander provided motion-capture performances for the bipedal alien invaders, and Na has already written a sequel the script nods toward
- The reviewer praises the first hour as a 'robust monster thriller' reminiscent of Tremors and Bong Joon-ho's The Host, but says the film falters once the creatures are fully revealed on screen
- The critique singles out 'garishly low-resolution monster effects' and sequences of slow-motion gunplay against CGI-rendered creatures, arguing the digital imagery can't keep up with the otherwise crisp visuals
- Hope's open-ended, exposition-light climax risks turning off audiences and undermining Na's stated goal of launching a franchise installment.
Why it matters: A $75 million bet on Korean monster-movie spectacle, backed by Hollywood stars and a premium U.S. rollout, hinges on whether audiences buy into a sequel tease without a satisfying payoff—Na's franchise ambitions could die at the box office if the punchless third act drives viewers away.
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