Escape (2024) Review

“Escape” Theatrical Poster

Director: Lee Jong-pil
Cast: Lee Je-hoon, Hong Xa-bin, Koo Kyo-hwan, Shin Dong Hyeon, Esom, Lee Ho Jung
Running Time: 95 min.

By Paul Bramhall

When the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953 the anti-communist film became a mainstay in the South Korean film industry, going through a golden era during the remainder of the decade, and one which continued well into the 1960’s (so much so that, in 1966, a Best Anti-Communist Film category was added to the Daejong Film Awards). While in the 21^st century the anti-communist film genre is considered a product of a bygone era, in 2024 director Lee Jong-pil (Samjin Company English Class, Sound of a Flower) has decided to revive it with his latest feature, Escape.

There’s an inevitable political element whenever a South Korean production deals with themes involving North Korea, with an unspoken rule that they should reflect the sentiments of whoever’s sitting in the presidential office at the time they’re made. During the Park Geun-hye era it was always patriotism that was placed at the fore in productions like Ode to My Father and Northern Limit Line, and during Moon Jae-in’s term the reciprocal approach was reflected in titles like Confidential Assignment and Steel Rain. Now with Yoon Suk-yeol’s more hardline approach to any matters concerning the North, it’s perhaps not too much of a surprise that a production like Escape got green lit, which sees a North Korean soldier stationed in the DMZ harbouring desires to escape to the South and start a new life.

Played by Lee Je-hoon (Time to Hunt, Phantom Detective), with no family and limited prospects following his imminent discharge, at night he’s been sneaking out of the communal sleeping quarters to scope out a route free of landmines, the plan being to make a dash for the border when the time is right. His plans are accelerated when it’s predicted to rain in a couple of days, the resulting mud tending to shift the locations of the landmines, however a bigger problem rears its head when it turns out one of his subordinates has seen him sneaking out. Played by Hong Xa-bin (Hopeless, Nobody’s Lover), when it turns out he also wants to escape, Je-hoon calls his bluff and reprimands him, only for Xa-bin to make an escape attempt alone the following day. With all units summoned to find the deserter, Je-hoon gets to him first hoping to save him, however when another unit finds them together both are suspected of planning to defect.

With the Supreme Leader determined to reduce the number of defection attempts, a member of the State Security Department is deployed to investigate the incident, played by Koo Kyo-hwan (Kill Boksoon, Escape from Mogadishu). Realising he knows Je-hoon from their childhood, Kyo-hwan concocts a plan that’ll place a positive spin on events. Framing them from the perspective of Je-hoon heroically catching a deserter, and therefore proving how effective the army training is in minimising desertion attempts, the result should save them both from any further ramifications. However even with a guaranteed job set up after being discharged from his current position, Je-hoon refuses to live a life where he has no free will, and remains determined to rescue Xa-bin and defect across the border together.

The DMZ has proved to be fertile ground for Korean cinema over the years, from Park Sang-ho’s The DMZ in 1965 through to Park Chan-wook’s JSA – Joint Security Area in 2000, in many ways the entire area acts as a literal metaphor for the divide between North and South Korea. In more recent years the area has mainly been used as a setting for pulpy DTV actioners, the likes of Oh In-chun’s The DMZ and DMZ: Reload (from 2018 and 2019 respectively) being perfect examples. Escape, despite its higher budget and bigger names, still feels like it belongs firmly in the same basket as recent DTV fare, very much being a stripped down action thriller that’s sole focus is on Je-hoon’s attempts to cross the DMZ for the entirety of its 95 minute runtime (one which is remarkably short for any Korean production).

While the laser focus on Je-hoon’s mission is admirable, with zero sub-plots into romance or any other diversions, unfortunately there are issues with its execution. The initial third is a suitably tense affair, propelled by a synth heavy soundtrack, as Je-hoon attempts to sneak out from a base full of generals and military higher-ups being a highlight. The sequence ends with a jeep going airborne and crashing through a portion of propaganda signage, a stunt which is done for real but captured horribly, with multiple cuts showing the perspective both outside and inside the jeep resulting in any sense of space and impact being lost. If you’re going to crash a vehicle through something, show it in an uncut take and in slow motion if you like, basically do anything except chop it up into multiple unnecessary cuts!

From there the narrative transitions into action movie territory, however it’s clear no one involved had any understanding of how to effectively shoot action. The biggest issue rears its head immediately when, in the aftermath of the jeep crash, a shot follows Je-hoon and Xa-bin running from the front with enemy jeeps right behind them unleashing a hail of bullets, which somehow don’t come anywhere near them. Growing up on 80’s action cinema I’m used to seeing the good guys be impervious to bullets, but when you have a shot framed with the party doing the shooting having their target literally right in front of them, it simply feels lazy.

Other problems soon become evident, such as the handling of characters feeling oddly off. At one point Je-hoon and Xa-bin run into a group of female nomads who roam the borderlands led by Esom (Dr. Cheon and the Lost Talisman, Man on High Heels). We learn that they were thrown out of their village, and that one of them has a brother being held captive in the same place that Xa-bin was being kept, however their whole appearance feels superfluous and lasts less than 5 minutes, dropping out of the narrative even quicker than they entered it. Similarly as a director Jong-pil seems unsure of how to portray the homosexuality of Koo-kwan’s effeminate State Security member, with his initial introduction consisting of him applying lip balm in front of a room full of commanders and playfully clapping his lips together.

It’s briefly introduced that he used to be a pianist in Russia, during which time he was in a relationship with another member of the North Korean elite who now watches him from afar, but it isn’t given sufficient screen time to feel meaningful. It’s like the intention was to give Koo-kwan’s character a sympathetic edge, in that even though he’s now forced to hunt his childhood friend, the fact he’s gay but can never reveal it also shows how he’s had to make sacrifices in his own life. However its clumsily handled, and he ultimately never feels like much of a threat to Je-hoon, with the switch from someone who’s biggest concern is keeping his hands moisturized to being completely unphased when a landmine blows one of his subordinate’s legs off feeling overly forced.

All of the aforementioned issues culminate in the finale, which sees Je-hoon finally make a dash across the DMZ and make it all the way to the luscious green grass of the South, only for (in a case of unintentional amusement) Koo-kwan to suddenly pop up out of nowhere right next to the South Korea demarcation line. Apart from the logistics of his appearance making zero sense, it also results in an underwhelming confrontation that feels devoid of any emotional investment or impact, and wraps things up in a particularly cringe inducing scene of Je-hoon basked in warm light achieving everything he’d dreamt of.

While such blatantly propagandistic productions may have been mandated in the years directly after the Korean War, quite what the purpose of Escape is more than 70 years after the armistice is a question that’s more difficult to answer. As a thriller its tonally flat, and as an action movie its dull and misguided, a bewildering combination that makes one wonder how such a straightforward concept loaded with potential could be squandered so much.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 5/10