A crazed Korean high-seed mash-up

Korean director Na Hong-jin's Hope plays with a variety of genres, putting a heavy emphasis on action. In some ways, Hope, which also leans toward horror and sci-fi, might be called a highly skilled helping of shlock. I mean that as a compliment. Na and an able cast add a humorous gloss to a preposterous story about monsters that terrorize a small Korean town, reducing it to rubble. Na waits nearly an hour before giving us a look at the monster, a large ungainly creature that runs at breakneck speeds, smashing everything in its way. Hwang Jung-min plays the local chief of police. Initially skeptical about a monster's existence, the Chief soon finds himself walking through the town, rifle at the ready. Na also introduces us to a group of hunters. Zo In-sung plays the Chief's second cousin; he leads his hunters into the forest to destroy the monster. The production goes full carnage when it comes to the destruction wrought on the village of Hope Harbor, which is close enough to the DMZ…