Escape From Mogadishu Review

Escape from Mogadishu is a 2021 feature film directed by Seung-wan Ryoo.

An engaging and thoughtful action thriller, Escape from Mogadishu sets the bar high from the very beginning and never lets up throughout.

While perhaps a bit too long, this film never drags at any point, making for an entertaining watch. Nothing about this feature feels like a corner was cut, and the period tone of the early 90s never feels forced.

Going further on that point the production values here are high across the board. The extras, the props, even the wardrobe feel meticulously detailed and thought out. We are shown a deep look at the utterly tumultuous world of Somalia very effectively.

The acting here from the main cast to the supporting players is all top-notch. No one is breaking the immersion, and each player does their part to really sell each piece of the story.

At the core of it all, this is also a story of the amazing perseverance that we as humans can have when we work together. It is not often that a film takes a more nuanced look into the lives of the North Korea people but wow what an amazing element that is incorporated with great care.

It is great as well that the filmmakers here avoided the easy trap of having a true villain to provide much of the drama of the piece. In the same way that Grave of the Fireflies never made the American army the ones to hate in that film, here we are never meant to see the rebel uprising as anything else than a result of terrible oppression.

Civil war involves many victims and seeing any piece of cinema explore all the gray areas that come with it is a welcome change of pace.

Overall Escape from Mogadishu is an easy film to recommend checking out right away. It is a story that especially any American viewer will probably have never heard of. The action is amazing, with an excellent final chase that showcases a beautiful long take moving through multiple vehicles. In the same breath, when things slow down, nothing is melodramatic and the charisma of the entire cast shines through.

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Cheers!

Daniel Hess

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