Escape ★★½

SOUTH Korean action thriller Escape is a little lacklustre compared to other genre output from this growing film power.

Pacing is the main problem with which takes too long and starring Lee Je-hoon, Koo Kyo-hwan and Hong Xa-bin. The film depicts the life-threatening defection and chase of Lim Gyu-nam, a North Korean soldier who dreams of a life with a tomorrow on the other side of the barbed-wire fence, and Hyeon-sang, a North Korean State Security officer who must stop him. 

It’s set in and around the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea and focuses on two North Korean soldiers who try to escape from their camp, cross the Zone and defect.

Director Lee Jong-pil‘s film is billed as a chase thriller, but pacing is the main problem, taking too long to get to the actual escape and pursuit of the two men.

Leads Lee Je-hoon, as the main would-be defector, and Koo Kyo-hwan, as his Secret Service pursuer, are fine and the final act of the film is excitingly staged, but it’s too little too late.

Watched on a plane flight.