"Hope" review — Gonzo Korean sci-fi monster flick is somewhere beyond understanding
“We’ve got a bit of a situation here.” For the overwhelming majority of films that I see, I can neatly discern how I feel about them and fit them into the boxes of “liked it (even slightly)” or “disliked it (again, even if only slightly).” There are the occasional films that find themselves somewhere in the middle, where I find myself rather split on a final verdict. However, those films ultimately feel more middling or boring than anything else. Very few movies, however, leave me truly stumped, where the concepts of “good” or “bad” seem to have no ontological meaning. They defy any sort of conventional appraisal, where the elements are so varied in their quality — from the breathtakingly inspired to the repellently abhorrent — that I enter a state beyond mere internal conflict. I transcend into a maddening purgatory of flip-flopping emotional reactions, both of deep admiration and deep aversion. I begin to second-guess my understanding of the art of cinema. They are the most confoundi...
