HOPE (2026)

If you've seen the trailers, you know at least kinda what to expect here: two big human-vs-monster setpieces, one fought in a semi-depopulated urban area, and one fought out in the woods. These are satisfyingly rich—longer than you'd expect and just about as good as you'd want, aside from a few too many instances of Movie Action Logic (more than one heroic character shrugs off injuries that should rightfully have liquified them; the monster can outrun a police cruiser but can't outrun our protagonist in a foot chase, etc). Set aside these quibbles (I tried), and you'll find the sequences more than worth the price of admission. There are plenty of jolts to get the adrenalin flowing and to keep you white-knuckling your armrests, though you're never far from a humorous curveball coming at you—loads of dudes get gorily snuffed, sure, but the prevailing mood of those two setpieces is more "action comedy" than "gritty monster combat." Fine by me!

So you could think of this as a hearty two course meal, except the space between (and after) the courses get filled with a bunch of side dishes, ranging from an autopsy gross-out scene to a long scatological digression to a tearful send-up of self-serious, lore-heavy, science fiction melodrama. Despite being whimsical or even silly, these don't exactly clear the palate, and in fact the longer the film goes on, the more these sides slowly begin to become the centerpiece of the meal, a choice which is genuinely fascinating without really being satisfying. I confess I lol'ed at most of the gags, but the drift from "action comedy" into what begins to reek of outright spoof feels likely to repel and alienate as many viewers as it might charm. In the end, this remains a hell of a lot of Movie for your buck, stuffed with a range of pleasures—but also containing its share of disagreeable bites.

A ★★★½ review of Hope (2026)

If you’ve seen the trailers, you know at least kinda what to expect here: two big human-vs-monster setpieces, one fought in a semi-depopulated urban area, and one fought out in the woods. These are satisfyingly rich—longer than you’d expect and just about as good as you’d want, aside from a few too many instances of Movie Action Logic (more than one heroic character shrugs off injuries that should rightfully have liquified them; the monster can outrun a police cruiser but can’t outrun our protagonist in a foot chase, etc). Set aside these quibbles (I tried), and you’ll find the sequences

Letterboxdjbushnell