"Escape" tells a thrilling and moving story of a North Korean soldier trying to escape to the south and defect. While the film is an enjoyable watch, at times the story feels too predictable or unrealistic, clashing with its heavy tone and grittiness.
Pros:
The visuals and story were overall quite excellent, with great performances from the actors. The movie keeps a fast pace going while also incorporating meaningful character development and emotional connection. The bittersweet, hopeful ending is satisfying to reach.
Cons:
I watched this film back-to-back after "The Taxi Driver", another excellent Korean drama, so bear in mind that this may have slightly colored my experience of the film. However, though both were in the same broad category of historical action/drama, there was a noticeable difference in the believability of the two films. In "Escape", the protagonist seems to have superhero-movie-level plot armor, dodging hundreds of bullets until the last ten minutes of the movie, when the antagonist conveniently is finally able to shoot him and provide a dramatic conclusion. Besides this, the last half hour of the movie feels like it has too many false climaxes, making the final climax less impactful.
