‘Hope’ — Breathless Korean sci-fi monster thriller is a spectacular ride

DUBAI: With “Hope,” director Na Hong-jin serves up one of the year’s most entertaining cinematic experiences. There are influences a-plenty on show — Spielberg and Tarantino, to name two — but Hong-jin’s mix of breathless action, gory violence, slapstick humor, and pathos has a flavor all its own.

The action is set in the eponymous small town near the demilitarized zone that separates South and North Korea. It starts familiarly enough — a mutilated farm animal is found in the middle of the road by local hunters and the police chief, the world-weary, well-respected Beom-seok (Hwang Jung-min) is called out to investigate. Initial suspicions fall on a tiger rumored to roam the mountains. It quickly becomes clear, though, that whatever was responsible is much, much bigger than a tiger.