Rating: ***
Review Date: 9/10/26
Writer and Director: Na Hong-jin
Cast: Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Michael Fassbender,
Alicia Vikander
All hell breaks loose when a mysterious creature cuts a swath of destruction through the small coastal town of Hope Harbor. The idiot chief of police (Hwang Jung-min) and a group of idiot hunters (led by Zo In-sung) attempt to track the creature down, and get more than they bargained for. The first half plays out like a traditional mystery monster movie as the townsfolk try to find the monster in the ruins of their town, while the second half devolves into bizarre science fiction nonsense.
I was really excited about this movie after seeing the trailer several months ago, which featured Hoyeon as a police officer with a machine gun. That intense imagery alone was enough to get me onboard. Unfortunately, the film is not at all what I was expecting. It's a slow starter that introduces the main characters as a bunch of bumbling buffoons who are not likable at all, so you don't really care what becomes of them. Once the monsters show up, it becomes an exhausting extended chase sequence that eventually culminates in a cliffhanger that's so outrageous you won't care what happens next. It's definitely a contender for "WTF Film Of The Year."
Not surprisingly, Hoyeon is the highlight of the film and is the only likable character in the cast. Her introduction an hour into the movie completely changes the dynamic and offers up the single best action scene in the production. She handles a gun with conviction and confidence, and reportedly performed most of her own driving stunts. She owns the screen and is delightful in every shot she's in. The action is tense and well-executed, but suffers from being overly repetitive. It feels like the film could have been trimmed considerably in order to keep it fresh and engaging, without burning the viewer out. The film also suffers from misplaced goofy humor and uneven pacing. The pacing is either too sluggish or too relentless, and the film fails to find a good balance that doesn't punish the viewer. The humor is an odd counterpoint to the graphic violence and gore, and doesn't really work, although I did laugh on a couple of occasions (because poop jokes are universally funny). Micheal Fassbender and Alicia Vikander show up as space aliens, which is very odd, and the more time that is spent with them, the weirder the movie becomes.
Production-wise, the film looks great and the devastation in Hope Harbor is incredible. In many ways, it looks like it could be a "Resident Evil" movie or some other video game adaptation. The acting is very good, despite the inherent goofiness of the characters, and the roles are very physically demanding. The music is tense and pounding, which sets the tempo for the exhilarating action scenes. The visual effects are good, but the CGI creatures can look a bit janky at high speed. Overall it's a well-made film, but I have a hard time recommending it unless you have a high tolerance for goofy Asian humor and inexplicable weirdness. At times it reminded me of "Annihilation" (2018) in the way that the ending goes completely off the rails into Crazy Town.