Exit isn't (quite) perfect. But reviews complaining about lack of depth, or limited human drama, miss the point.
It's true that this film can feel somewhat shallow at times. But this is not an omission, it's a stylistic choice. We aren't meant to focus on the characters so much as on the wild situations they face. Yes, there's a human, romantic plot line, but it's clearly intended to take second place to the daring acrobatics.
This is a very Korean approach. You can see the same thing in the much-praised movie Parasite - the characters are *meant* to be somewhat puppet-like, so that we focus on other layers of content. On the social commentary, in the case of Parasite. Or in the case of Exit, the hair-raising situations.
If you assume this point of view, Exit snaps into focus as a rather brilliant and highly original piece of work.
The premise is improbable, to be sure - but simple, and plainly stated at the outset. The streets in a large downtown area are filling with a low-lying fog of deadly gas. As the gas spreads and slowly rises, our two protagonists are forced to climb above it by means of ever-more daring and improbable feats of mountaineering.
And this is the main goal of the movie: to give us the thrill of watching people scaling the sides of the cliff-like buildings that surround us every day in any big city. Think of it as 21st Century Harold Lloyd with a spicy Korean flavor.
The human, dramatic dimension of the movie is always present, but always secondary. The two climbers have a tense, conflicted relationship - yet they can only survive by smooth cooperation and total trust in one another. This aspect of the movie pays off beautifully in the end. But it's the journey that's important. The filmmakers want us to know it - and to know that *they* know it.
Naturally, there's also a frosting of zany humor. It wouldn't be a Korean movie without that.
Personally, I loved Exit. It's engineered with great precision for maximum entertainment, every second of the way. If you're a fan of Korean cinema, don't wait, see it immediately. If you know nothing about Korean movies, this one would be a great introduction.
It's true that this film can feel somewhat shallow at times. But this is not an omission, it's a stylistic choice. We aren't meant to focus on the characters so much as on the wild situations they face. Yes, there's a human, romantic plot line, but it's clearly intended to take second place to the daring acrobatics.
This is a very Korean approach. You can see the same thing in the much-praised movie Parasite - the characters are *meant* to be somewhat puppet-like, so that we focus on other layers of content. On the social commentary, in the case of Parasite. Or in the case of Exit, the hair-raising situations.
If you assume this point of view, Exit snaps into focus as a rather brilliant and highly original piece of work.
The premise is improbable, to be sure - but simple, and plainly stated at the outset. The streets in a large downtown area are filling with a low-lying fog of deadly gas. As the gas spreads and slowly rises, our two protagonists are forced to climb above it by means of ever-more daring and improbable feats of mountaineering.
And this is the main goal of the movie: to give us the thrill of watching people scaling the sides of the cliff-like buildings that surround us every day in any big city. Think of it as 21st Century Harold Lloyd with a spicy Korean flavor.
The human, dramatic dimension of the movie is always present, but always secondary. The two climbers have a tense, conflicted relationship - yet they can only survive by smooth cooperation and total trust in one another. This aspect of the movie pays off beautifully in the end. But it's the journey that's important. The filmmakers want us to know it - and to know that *they* know it.
Naturally, there's also a frosting of zany humor. It wouldn't be a Korean movie without that.
Personally, I loved Exit. It's engineered with great precision for maximum entertainment, every second of the way. If you're a fan of Korean cinema, don't wait, see it immediately. If you know nothing about Korean movies, this one would be a great introduction.