oldboy 2013 movie review

Film Review: ‘Oldboy’

Josh Brolin stars in Spike Lee's disappointingly straight remake of Park Chan-wook's 2003 cult thriller.

By Justin Chang

Justin Chang

• Film Review: ‘A Hologram for the King’ 8 years ago
• Cannes: A Look at the Official Selection, by the Numbers 8 years ago
• Film Review: ‘Captain America: Civil War’ 8 years ago

Revenge, like octopus, is a dish best served cold, but Spike Lee ‘s disappointingly straight remake of “ Oldboy ” is a lukewarm meal at best. Granted, with its hammered heads and severed tongues, Park Chan-wook ‘s gleefully sadistic 2003 thriller was itself little more than a grotesque adolescent wallow, but it certainly didn’t want for novelty or style — neither of which, alas, factors much into this Westernized and depersonalized genre outing. Serving up the original’s baroque twists and equally baroque violence with a studied competence verging on boredom, the FilmDistrict release will be appreciated primarily by viewers unfamiliar with the material, though with minimal anticipation and likely poor word of mouth, it’s unlikely to wrap its tentacles around the box office for long.

It’s been 10 years since Park unleashed the second and most famous installment in his “Vengeance Trilogy” with “Oldboy,” an arresting if dubious hybrid of grindhouse extremity and arthouse cred that turned heads and stomachs when it won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Since then, various other South Korean pulp mavens have come to international prominence, some of whom have far surpassed Park’s cult favorite in terms of emotional and dramatic heft (Bong Joon-ho’s “The Host” and “Mother”) or sheer white-knuckle intensity (Kim Jee-woon’s “I Saw the Devil,” Na Hong-jin’s “The Yellow Sea”). But no Asian thriller of the past decade has exerted quite the same feverish grip on fanboy imaginations as “Oldboy,” or generated as much American remake interest; DreamWorks made an early attempt in 2008 that attracted the interest of Will Smith and Steven Spielberg before getting scuttled amid legal woes related to the film rights.

That aborted production, which would have mined the original Japanese manga series for inspiration rather than simply updating the Korean film, might well have taken this twisty tale of extreme payback in an intriguing new direction. But as written by “I Am Legend’s” Mark Protosevich (once in talks to script the Spielberg version), and helmed by Lee on director-for-hire autopilot, this “Oldboy” adds only a few negligible wrinkles to Park’s storyline while reproducing some of his most iconic images and sequences with uninspired fidelity.

Popular on Variety

The unfortunate protagonist this time around is Joe Doucette ( Josh Brolin ), a heavy-drinking ad exec and absentee father who’s quickly flushing his life down the toilet when the story begins in 1993. Whether butting heads with his ex-wife or making a drunken pass at the spouse of a potential client, Joe has a talent for making enemies, something that becomes readily apparent when he awakens from his latest stupor to find himself locked in a small, beige-walled room with a bed, a bathroom, a TV and no windows. For the next 20 years (compared with the original’s 15) this sub-Motel 6 hellhole will be his prison, his food shoved under the door each day by an anonymous attendant, his every action monitored and at times manipulated from afar by some unseen, all-powerful nemesis.

The TV becomes Joe’s means of observing the passage of time — not only through historical markers such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, but also through news reports of his ex-wife’s murder (he’s the prime suspect) and the foster-care fate of his young daughter, Mia. Long before Joe’s sentence is up, something snaps inside him, motivating him to quit drinking (his captor has kept the booze flowing) and whip himself into shape. By the time he’s suddenly released in 2013, he has become the proverbial lean, mean killing machine, fiercely determined not only to find Mia, but also to figure out who imprisoned him and why. Unfortunately for Joe, his enemy wants him to figure that out, too.

Given his ability to look by turns pathetically broken and totally badass (plus he can rock a buzz cut and what looks like a 10-year beard), Brolin is as ideal an actor as any to steer viewers through “Oldboy’s” grisly funhouse of horrors. Yet while he’s up to the role’s intense physical and emotional demands, the star seems to hint at demons seething beneath the surface without fully embracing them, never tapping into the raw, animal-like ferocity that made Choi Min-sik such a frighteningly human monster. In similar fashion, Lee and Protosevich have made a picture that, although several shades edgier than the average Hollywood thriller, feels content to shadow its predecessor’s every move while falling short of its unhinged, balls-out delirium.

And so it comes as no surprise when Joe quickly befriends an attractive young woman, Marie (Elizabeth Olsen), who, even for a social worker, seems improbably willing to help out this dangerous individual. Once again our hero follows a trail of dumplings across a sketchy urban wasteland (the film was shot in New Orleans, though the city is never named), leading up to the film’s most squirm-inducing sequence, in which he tortures the crook (a mouthy Samuel L. Jackson) in charge of the human storage facility where he was held. (One small difference: Rather than resorting to amateur dentistry, Joe perforates the guy’s neck.)

And while the notorious octopus-slurping scene gets a brief nod rather than a full-on restaging (understandable in this non-Korean context), no “Oldboy” would be complete without a cleverly staged long take in which a lone madman with a hammer takes down an entire army of thugs. Unlike the chaotic original setpiece, which was confined to a dank, overcrowded hallway, this three-and-a-half-minute scene — rehearsed for six weeks and shot at a former U.S. Navy site in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward — plays like a sleek, carefully choreographed exercise, the action staged in relatively neat formations and spilling out on multiple floors. As lensed by d.p. Sean Bobbitt (shooting in widescreen on a variety of celluloid formats), it’s an impressive but empty display, workmanlike even in its virtuosity.

Joe and Marie’s increasingly intimate detective work (aided by a bartender buddy, nicely played by Michael Imperioli) leads to the premature revelation of Joe’s tormenter (Sharlto Copley, compellingly weird as ever), setting in motion a third-act gauntlet of flashbacks and reversals that, apart from a more disturbing backstory and a less ambiguous denouement, remains wearyingly faithful to the original telling. Even “Oldboy” virgins caught off-guard by the closing twists may get the sense that they’re not following a story so much as a template, and a creaky one at that, absent the stylistic verve that made Park’s film, gratuitous and self-satisfied as it was, something more than the sum of its contrivances. With the exception of one early sight gag embedded in Sharon Seymour’s otherwise nondescript production design, Lee’s directorial signature here could scarcely feel less pronounced, his attention less engaged. This time, it’s impersonal.

Reviewed at the Landmark, Los Angeles, Nov. 7, 2013. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 103 MIN.

• Production: A FilmDistrict release and presentation in association with Good Universe of a Vertigo Entertainment/40 Acres and a Mule production. Produced by Roy Lee, Doug Davison, Nathan Kahane. Executive producers, Joe Drake, John Powers Middleton, Peter Schlessel. Co-producers, Avram Butch Kaplan, Audrey Chon, Matthew Leonetti Jr., Mark Protosevich.
• Crew: Directed by Spike Lee. Screenplay, Mark Protosevich, based on the Korean motion picture "Oldboy." Camera (color, widescreen, 35mm/Super 16/Super 8), Sean Bobbitt; editor, Barry Alexander Brown; music, Roque Banos; production designer, Sharon Seymour; art director, Peter Borck; set designer, Trinh Vu; set decorator, Maggie Martin; costume designer, Ruth E. Carter; sound, Steve C. Aaron; supervising sound designer, Michael Baird; special effects supervisor, Guy Clayton; visual effects supervisor, Dottie Starling; visual effects, Wildfire Studios; stunt coordinator, Mark Norby; fight coordinator, JJ Perry; assistant director, Michael Ellis; casting, Kim Taylor-Coleman.
• With: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, Linda Emond, James Ransone, Max Casella, Michael Imperioli.

More From Our Brands

Clarence thomas complains about ‘awful’ people after his ethics scandals, inside an architecturally significant midcentury-modern time capsule in los angeles, espn’s caitlin clark-led docuseries gives fans an inside look, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, the other black girl cancelled at hulu, verify it's you, please log in.

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, extremely grotesque: park chan-wook on oldboy.

In the 20 years since it was first released, Park Chan-wook ’s “Oldboy” has lost none of its ability to provoke and enthrall, none of its potency as a work of art that deploys graphic violence and equally visceral style to probe the depths of human nature.  

The masterpiece that propelled South Korean cinema onto a world stage and solidified Park’s status as one of its most ferociously original auteurs, “Oldboy” won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, with jury president Quentin Tarantino personally advocating on the film’s behalf. A critical and commercial success, the film shocked stateside audiences with its savage beauty and delirious,  psychological dimension; in his four-star review , Roger Ebert called “Oldboy” a “powerful film not because of what it depicts, but because of the depths of the human heart which it strips bare.”

Adapted from Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi ’s manga, Park’s neo-noir saga centers on Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), a man kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years by a mysterious tormentor, only to be released one day without explanation. Desperate to discover the identity and motivation of the man who stole his life, Dae-su embarks on a path of revenge that leads him into a strange and terrible maze of conspiracy. 

Tumbling out of a red suitcase onto a rooftop garden, devouring a live octopus at a sushi bar, and facing down a hallway of thugs with the help of a claw-tooth hammer in one legendary sequence after another, Dae-su’s odyssey plunges him through Seoul’s seedy underworld and eventually nears a revelatory, annihilative confrontation. As it does, Park—with his transcendent visual style and obsessive eye for detail—masterfully orchestrates the story’s twisting descent into a tragedy of mythic proportions. 

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of its original South Korean release, Neon is re-releasing “Oldboy” in theaters, starting August 16; the film was originally distributed in the U.S. by Tartan Films USA. To mark the occasion, Park personally supervised a digital restoration and remastering of the film in 4K HDR. 

Ahead of “Oldboy” returning to theaters, Park told RogerEbert.com about his involvement in the restoration and remastering process, how growing up in Seoul under the rule of dictator Chun Doo-hwan informed his artistic interests, and which line of dialogue he considers “the key” to unlocking the long-abiding mystery of “Oldboy.”

This interview has been edited and condensed.

In restoring and remastering “Oldboy,” which you made 20 years ago, were you trying to stay true to the film’s original intent—and to who you were when you made it—or did the film transform as you returned to it from a different perspective at this stage of your life and career?

Although 20 years may not be a very long time in the lifespan of a work of art, it can be seen as such because “Oldboy” is from an era where movies were shot and screened on film. There’s nothing that was specially added to this remastered version. All I did was strive to relive the days when movies were screened on film and try to create the most pristine version possible. We would have corrected the color digitally in the present but, back then, we developed the film using the bleach bypass method. In other words, we physically treated the film negatives. The results aren’t as vivid and crisp as movies of today because of this, despite the fact it was a remastering. It’s very grainy with high contrast and low saturation. This doesn’t align with my aesthetic sensibilities as of today. However, this is in itself a record of that particular era. 

I wanted to ask about two scenes in particular: the scene where Choi Min-sik’s Oh Dae-su eats a live octopus, and the corridor fight scene in which Oh Dae-su wields a hammer against a group of attackers. What do you remember most strongly about filming both of those sequences? In revisiting “Oldboy,” has your relationship to those scenes changed at all; do you perceive them differently?

The response from international audiences that took me aback the most was regarding the live octopus scene. From the start, I had a very clear idea as to what food Dae-su, who has not had contact with any living entity for 15 years, would want to eat first. He would furiously gnaw on a wriggling mass of life and swallow it. This idea is where Dae-su’s line, “I’m going to chew it all down,” came from. 

The food that applies to this concept, as a Korean, is obviously live octopus. But I hadn’t thought about how non-Korean audiences would react. It ended up being an extremely grotesque scene. There are actually many Koreans who can’t stomach live octopus. And even if you do eat it, you would never eat it whole like in the film. It is likely a very dangerous act. You can even choke to death. There was even a real murder case where someone killed their lover in this manner. I really hope there aren’t any Americans who think Koreans would just put a large, live octopus in their mouths. 

What entertains me most about the hallway scene now is the bald, shirtless thug with the potbelly. That’s Mr. Heo Myeong Haeng. He might have been just one of dozens of stuntmen back then, but in the past 20 years, he has become Korea’s leading stunt coordinator and a film director in his own right with two features under his belt. He made the hallway scene in “Oldboy” twice as exciting with his unmatched performance, for which he deserves all the credit. 

Choi Min-sik’s performance in “Oldboy” is more impressive to me every time I revisit the film. Can you discuss what drew you to him as an actor and any favorite memory of working with him on this film? 

He was already a top-class actor in Korea before shooting “Oldboy.” He was the pillar of the industry, alongside Song Kang-ho, with whom he was always compared. If Song Kang-ho is ice and modern, Choi Min-sik is fire and classical. He is in appearance a hero but seems like a jokester at the same time. He’s not a calculating personality. He is a passionate person who will charge forward, come hell or high water, if he thinks something is right. This means he is that pure. 

I wanted to ask about the colors of “Oldboy,” its sickly greens and fluorescent purples, its splashes of red. What was your approach to the color correction process for this restoration, given the film’s strong contrasts and low saturation levels?

I was unrestrained in my usage of bold colors during the shooting stage. I was able to make this decision because we had done plenty of tests using bleach bypass during pre-production. If the subject is already faint in color, then there’s the possibility it’ll appear almost monotone after bleach bypass. If you put bold primary colors through bleach bypass, you get this strange and unfamiliar tone. I tried very hard to preserve this effect while remastering the film. 

While vengeance and its futility are major themes in your work, and extreme violence one way those ideas are expressed in “Oldboy,” the film also explores the possibility of catharsis and redemption. Looking back, why were these ideas important to you when you made “Oldboy”?

It’s likely because of my friends, seniors, and juniors who rose up and fought the military dictatorship while we were in college. I was weak and a coward and so couldn’t actively fight, and the brave ended up being the ones sacrificed to this intense violence. That was when I became interested in themes such as guilt, vengeance, and redemption. 

“Oldboy” features many allusions to classical mythology, from the name Oh Dae-su reminding the audiences of Oedipus, to Lee Woo-jin, played by Yoo Ji-tae, assuming a Yoga pose as if he’s a religious deity. Why was this mythological quality important to the story you wanted to tell? 

Revenge is a very classical and mythological story subject. So is incest. 

Because I’d already dealt with the division of the Korean peninsula in “Joint Security Area (JSA)” and class conflict within South Korea in “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance,” I didn’t want to handle yet another timely social issue in my next work. I wanted to tell a story that was more foundational, primordial, and universal. And I wanted to go romanticist, rather than realistic. I wanted to tell a story about fate. 

You began collaborating with screenwriter Chung Seo-kyung after “Oldboy,” and you have continued working together for 20 years. How has it felt to revisit “Oldboy,” which was made before that collaboration, and did Chung have any effect on the restoration and remaster?

After making “JSA,” “Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance,” and “Oldboy” back-to-back, I began to repent, having only created stories that pushed women to the periphery. She was who I recruited as a result. As you are aware, the films and series I’ve made since are all centered around women. Even the works that she is not involved in. That’s how much of an influence she has had on me. However, because “Oldboy” is a pre-Chung work, she did not participate in the remastering. 

One of the most enduring lines of dialogue in “Oldboy” comes from Lee Woo-jin, who says, “You can’t find the right answer if you ask the wrong questions.” This idea is important in many of your films, and so I wanted to close this interview by asking about the influence “Oldboy” has had on you as a filmmaker. How has it influenced the questions that you wish to ask through your filmmaking, or led you toward certain answers?

That’s correct — that line of dialogue is the key. If anyone were to regard “Oldboy” as holding some important place in the history of mystery stories, it’d be because of that line. This was not a mystery that could be solved by obsessing over the question, “Why was I imprisoned?” It’s only when you change the question to, “Why was I released when I could have been imprisoned for life?” that you can reach the thought, “Then, why was I released after exactly 15 years?” and, “What takes 15 years to achieve?” before ultimately coming to the conclusion that’s how long it takes for Mi-do, [played by Kang Hye-jung ,] to become an adult. 

Life is the same. How many enigmas stay unsolved because we are asking the wrong question? When the answer is hard to figure out, let us try changing the question and asking anew. 

“Oldboy” returns to theaters in a new 4K restoration and remaster, via Neon, on August 16.

Isaac Feldberg

Isaac Feldberg is an entertainment journalist currently based in Chicago, who’s been writing professionally for nine years and hopes to stay at it for a few more.

Latest blog posts

The Importance of Connections in Ryusuke Hamaguchi Films

Saving Film History One Frame at a Time: A Preview of Restored & Rediscovered Series at the Jacob Burns Film Center

The Beatles Were Never More Human Than in ‘Let It Be’

Dear Tim Cook: Be a Decent Human Being and Delete this Revolting Apple Ad

Latest reviews.

Nothing Can't Be Undone by a HotPot

Simon abrams.

Matt Zoller Seitz

Monica Castillo

Gasoline Rainbow

Peyton robinson.

Christy Lemire

Force of Nature: The Dry 2

Sheila o'malley.

Oldboy (2013)

• User Reviews

Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews

• User Ratings
• External Reviews
• Metacritic Reviews
• Full Cast and Crew
• Release Dates
• Official Sites
• Company Credits
• Filming & Production
• Technical Specs
• Plot Summary
• Plot Keywords
• Parents Guide

Did You Know?

• Crazy Credits
• Alternate Versions
• Connections
• Soundtracks

Photo & Video

• Photo Gallery
• Trailers and Videos

Related Items

• External Sites

Related lists from IMDb users

Recently Viewed

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Oldboy – review

Why do we need an English-language remake of Park Chan-wook's prize-winning Korean thriller? Other than catering to an audience unwilling to read subtitles, it's hard to see what Spike Lee has brought to the table, despite his insistence that this is not really a remake, but another interpretation of Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi's original manga source.

Josh Brolin plays the antihero held captive for 20 years, reduced to his animalistic essentials before being unleashed into the unsuspecting world, hellbent on revenge. Lacking the visual pizzazz of its predecessor which was drenched in the dreamy/ nightmarish hues of mythical allegory, this altogether more mundane rendering merely draws attention to the gaping holes in the incestuous narrative which duly unravels before us. Heads are shattered, bones are cracked, but all to little effect. Meanwhile Elizabeth Olsen gets wasted for the second time this week (she has a thankless throwaway role in Kill Your Darlings ), Samuel L Jackson phones in some Bad MoFo silliness, and Sharlto Copley plays the shady nemesis behind all this torture as Richard O'Brien 's camper brother. Only the octopus comes out of it smiling…

• The Observer
• Drama films
• Josh Brolin

Comments (…)

Most viewed.

Review by Brian Eggert November 30, 2013

When considering Spike Lee’s remake Oldboy , one must remember that remakes aren’t inherently bad. They usually just turn out that way. After all, Martin Scorsese remade the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs into his Best Picture and Best Director winner The Departed , surpassing the original; he also bested the 1962 Cape Fear with his 1991 version. Park Chan-wook’s original Oldboy was released in 2003, won the Cannes Film Festival’s Grand Prix in 2004, and went on to become a cult sensation in the United States. The South Korean director’s brilliant and disturbing picture is Americanized into “a Spike Lee joint” of lesser consequence, the effort wholly unnecessary. Lee’s not-inconsiderable talent makes a fine attempt to interpret the story with two or three unique touches, but he doesn’t make it vital or offer a fresh take. The result never captures the shocking whimsy of Park’s version, which balanced revenge, ultra-violence, surprising humor, torture, and incest into a deeply affecting and philosophical piece of visceral cinema.

The script for Lee’s version was written by Mark Protosevich ( I Am Legend ), who based his screenplay on Park’s film and not, as the original, on the Japanese manga Old Boy , by writer Garon Tsuchiya and illustrator Nobuaki Minegishi. Protosevich’s version follows the basic narrative threads of Park’s film. Josh Brolin plays Joe Doucett, a deplorable drunk who wakes up after a disastrous night in 1993 to find he’s been imprisoned in what appears to be a hotel room with no phone. On TV, news broadcasts inform him that his estranged wife has been raped and murdered, leaving his 3-year-old daughter parentless. Joe has been framed for the crime, but why? For 20 years, Joe is locked in his prison; he has no human contact and doesn’t know why he’s been held captive. He stops drinking alcohol, cleans up his mind, and watches Kung Fu movies and exercise programs—all to prepare himself for the day when he can escape and exact revenge on his captors. But before he can escape, he’s set free.

At first, Joe experiences a culture shock when he’s unleashed into a world of iPhones and web searches about which he knows nothing. Fortunately, his bartender friend Chucky (Michael Imperioli) and a Good Samaritan from a local charity clinic, the eventual romantic interest Marie (Elizabeth Olsen), take pity on this Rip Van Winkle and resolve to help him. It’s any wonder why they bother with Joe, since he’s unwaveringly dislikable, hard-faced, and never gives any reason beyond his mission of revenge and redemption to sympathize with him. Though he wants to reconnect with his now 23-year-old daughter—a cello player who, on a TV show called “Mysteries in Crime” has stated she’s willing to forgive her father’s alleged crimes—Joe’s ever-volatile mood doesn’t justify their convenient devotion. Sadly, Brolin’s performance consists of a chronic scowl; he’s downright hateful in the beginning and never shows the layers or tragic vulnerability of Choi Min-sik’s performance in the original.

In her book On Death and Dying , psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross famously outlined the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. She believed everyone should “accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime.” These are the grim words repeated almost verbatim by Adrian Pryce (Sharlto Copley), the fussy British billionaire who’s imprisoned Joe and wants his captive to answer two questions, who kidnapped him and why. Brolin’s character spends far too much time in the anger phase, whereas Choi’s most human moments were in Kübler-Ross’ other stages and his occasional bout of utter madness. Brolin’s Joe seems impelled by cruelty alone, and Lee doesn’t shy away from the bloody stuff to illustrate this (the remake is far more aggressive than the original, which used its violence in a playful, metaphoric way). When Joe confronts the makeshift hotel-prison warden (Samuel L. Jackson, under a mohawk wig) in an unwatchable scene, he proceeds to cut chunks out of his victim’s neck and warns that he’s preparing to pull off his victim’s head with his bare hands.

Lee’s direction has just as few layers as Brolin’s performance, and what layers there are feel incompatible. This being his first Hollywood picture since 2006’s Inside Man , Lee serves as a director-for-hire and resorts to paying homage in ungainly ways, as opposed to making the narrative or even memorable scenes his own. Take the famous fight scene from Park’s film, which occurs in a hallway and pits Choi’s character, armed with just a hammer, against a gang of goons. Lee’s version of this scene is wonderfully executed in an unbroken take that shifts between three floors, but it’s an energetic and lively sequence that feels out of place in an otherwise dour film. Versed in jarring tonal shifts, Lee sometimes makes incongruousness an asset (see Bamboozed ), and other times, it’s tragically confused ( Miracle at St. Anna ). With Oldboy , there’s a flatness to Lee’s approach that does the shocking subject matter a disservice.

Those familiar with the twists and turns in Park’s original will feel nothing toward Lee’s take on the jaw-dropping climax. Even unfamiliar viewers won’t feel the same degree of emotional trauma which Park delivered in 2003. There might be a gasp here or a “yuck” there, and the performers (namely Copley and Olsen) put in their best effort, but Lee’s Oldboy remains so completely unnecessary and impersonal that it’s mildly offensive. Had another filmmaker truly engaged the material to squeeze out every significant, complicated emotion felt or implied by Park’s original, the Americanization could have resulted in a worthwhile translation. Instead, the new Oldboy stands as a Hollywood product designed to cash in on a cult sensation, yet oddly does so by removing the elements which made it so powerful. Though remakes have an unfair reputation for being pointless and never superior to the original, here Spike Lee has done nothing to prove otherwise.

Related Titles

• In Theaters

Recent Reviews

• Evil Does Not Exist 4 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
• Patreon Exclusive: Coma 3.5 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes 3 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆
• Humane 3 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆
• Short Take: Unfrosted 1.5 Stars ☆ ☆
• The Fall Guy 2.5 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆
• The Idea of You 3 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆
• Patreon Exclusive: The Ex-Mrs. Bradford 3.5 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
• The Beast 4 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
• Challengers 4 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
• Infested 3 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆
• Boy Kills World 1.5 Stars ☆ ☆
• Patreon Exclusive: Tuesday 4 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
• Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver 0.5 Star ☆
• Patreon Exclusive: Sasquatch Sunset 4 Stars ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Recent Articles

• Guest Appearance: The LAMBcast - The Fall Guy
• The Definitives: Paris, Texas
• Reader's Choice: Saturday Night Fever
• MSPIFF 2024 – Dispatch 4
• MSPIFF 2024 – Dispatch 3
• Guest Appearance: KARE 11 - 3 movies you need to see in theaters now
• MSPIFF 2024 – Dispatch 2
• Reader's Choice: Birth/Rebirth
• MSPIFF 2024 – Dispatch 1
• MSPIFF 2024

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Link to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• The Fall Guy Link to The Fall Guy
• The Last Stop in Yuma County Link to The Last Stop in Yuma County

New TV Tonight

• Doctor Who: Season 1
• Blood of Zeus: Season 2
• Pretty Little Liars: Summer School: Season 2
• Black Twitter: A People's History: Season 1
• Dark Matter: Season 1
• Bodkin: Season 1
• Hollywood Con Queen: Season 1
• The Chi: Season 6
• Reginald the Vampire: Season 2
• Love Undercover: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• A Man in Full: Season 1
• Fallout: Season 1
• Hacks: Season 3
• The Sympathizer: Season 1
• Them: Season 2
• Dead Boy Detectives: Season 1
• X-Men '97: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Doctor Who: Season 1 Link to Doctor Who: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

100 Best Movies on Tubi (May 2024)

The Best Shows on Amazon Prime Video to Watch Right Now (May 2024)

Asian-American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Rotten Tomatoes Predicts the 2024 Emmy Nominations

8 Things To Know About The New Season Of Doctor Who

• Trending on RT
• Furiosa First Reactions
• Streaming in May
• New Doctor Who
• Planet of the Apes Reviews

Oldboy Reviews

The messy, imperfect and chaotic nature of the action belies the precise choreography and consideration behind it.

Full Review | Dec 11, 2023

Oldboy is flashy, but there’s a moral and social disconnect between showing off Park’s undeniable chops and Choi Min-sik’s wild-haired, wild-eyed, poignant descent into madness.

Full Review | Sep 6, 2023

There’s a core element of emotional realism that accentuates Park’s brutal narrative beats, leaving us to ponder something more than a bloody body.

Full Review | Aug 22, 2023

It’s hard to think of any movie that's come out since (outside Park’s own oeuvre, at least) that so directly challenges audience’s expectations about revenge stories, and the value we expect them to carry.

Full Review | Aug 19, 2023

A wildly entertaining, twisted, gripping and exhilarating ride that deserves to be among the timeless crime thriller classics like <i>Seven</i>. See it on the largest screen possible. Be sure to skip the dumbed-down, forgettable remake by Spike Lee.

Given its highly stylish presentation, the unfolding mystery, several notable sequences, and a tremendous all-in lead performance from Choi Min-sik, it’s easy to see why the film has stood the test of time.

Full Review | Aug 18, 2023

When [Oh Dae-su] pieces it all together and finally sees himself reflected back, it is too much for him to bear. As he then tries to forget, the final shot of his shattered smile turning to silent laughter ensures we never will.

Full Review | Aug 17, 2023

There’s something viscerally uncomfortable about seeing what torment does to [Oh Dae-su] and what he becomes in the process.

Full Review | Aug 16, 2023

One of the most electrifying films you'll ever see.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 15, 2023

Visceral storytelling, told with rich visuals, impassioned style, and poetic purpose.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 20, 2022

All of that being said, I did get through the film. [But] I had big issues with it as I was watching it...

Full Review | Mar 29, 2021

Hailed as one of the top ten movies in the history of Asian cinema, it's hard to suggest Oldboy should not be on that list.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 14, 2021

Culminates in such outlandish morbidity that it's difficult to admire as a competent whole.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 9, 2020

A powerful and smart ode to tragedy, Park's film manages to provoke you, dishearten you, and thrill you.

Full Review | Aug 13, 2020

Oldboy still stands up as a modern revenge masterpiece, full of extreme violence and brutal shocks but with heart and a story that draws you in and keeps you invested with every twist and turn.

Full Review | Oct 13, 2019

Still holds up as a true tour de force that is just as fresh and hard-hitting in 2019 as it was upon its release 16 years ago.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Oct 4, 2019

Oldboy is so much more than an action film; it takes the viewer on a journey through a life destroyed, rebuilt and abolished once more. It teaches us lessons about consequences from our actions, the need to get revenge and find truth...

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 10, 2019

Oldboy has more to offer than action and violence - it's an imaginative tale of guilt and revenge, with a shocking climax that will live long in the memory.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 5, 2019

When it was first released back in 2003 Park Chan-wook's Oldboy hit audiences like a hammer. Forget Spike Lee's 2013 US remake with Josh Brolin, this South Korean film is the only version of Oldboy that needs to be seen.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 3, 2019

Bold, brutal, bloody and brilliant

Full Review | Jul 31, 2019

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Explaining the News to Our Kids

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Common sense media reviewers.

Great but extremely brutal, vicious revenge story.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Invading the privacy of others may backfire on you

Dae-su stops drinking and trains hard as he learns

All cast members are South Korean. Male leads are

Extreme violence includes fistfights, a hammer fig

Focuses on two incestuous relationships: one betwe

Frequent use (in English subtitles) of "f--k," "s-

A character is very drunk in one scene. Character

Parents need to know that Oldboy is renowned director Park Chan-wook's second addition to his "Vengeance Trilogy," released after 2002's Sympathy for Mr Vengeance . It has extremely mature sexual themes related to incest, a sustained graphic sex scene, and nudity (breasts and bottoms). Several vicious…

Positive Messages

Invading the privacy of others may backfire on you. But the film has more negative messages than positive ones, with revenge a central theme no matter the collateral damage.

Positive Role Models

Dae-su stops drinking and trains hard as he learns to fight, but it's for the negative purpose of seeking revenge. Woo-jin manipulates others and refuses to take responsibility for the death of a loved one, blaming it on Dae-su. Both leads lose their integrity and humanity in the process of trying to destroy each other.

Diverse Representations

All cast members are South Korean. Male leads are complex characters, but women are depicted as sex objects who need to be saved by men. They're also used as excuses for the male leads to hurt others.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Extreme violence includes fistfights, a hammer fight, shooting sprees. A severed hand is shown. Characters pull teeth from each other's mouths, punch a wall with bloody fists, cut off their own tongue. Multiple deaths via suicide. A news report discusses stab wounds on a murder victim. A man falls from a roof onto a car and dies. A man eats a live octopus and ants burrow through skin. Sexual violence includes a woman tied up, bare breasts shown, the film implying that men have touched her breasts against her will. A teen brother takes off his teen sister's underwear and bra without her clear consent. Another incestuous relationship between a father and his daughter.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Focuses on two incestuous relationships: one between a father and his daughter, the other between teen siblings. The father and daughter have sustained, graphic sex; breasts and bottoms shown. A long flashback depicts a brother undressing his sister and kissing her bare breasts. Classmates spread rumors that she's pregnant with his child (she's not). A man masturbates to images of clothed women on television; nothing sensitive shown.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Frequent use (in English subtitles) of "f--k," "s--t," "motherf----r," "a--hole," "son of a bitch," "bastard," "piss," "d--ks--t," "hell," "whore." Exclamatory use of "oh God."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A character is very drunk in one scene. Character sprayed with Valium gas every night. Brief smoking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Oldboy is renowned director Park Chan-wook's second addition to his "Vengeance Trilogy," released after 2002's Sympathy for Mr Vengeance . It has extremely mature sexual themes related to incest, a sustained graphic sex scene, and nudity (breasts and bottoms). Several vicious fight scenes involve martial arts, blunt objects (a hammer), and lots of blood. Characters die. There's shooting, arguing, struggling, sexual violence, and characters who are kidnapped and trapped. Language includes "f--k," "s--t," and more. A character appears very drunk in one scene, Valium gas is used to put someone to sleep, and smoking is shown. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (8)
• Kids say (11)

Based on 8 parent reviews

It's R rated for a reason

Magnificent and brilliantly twisted, oldboy is the ultimate achievement in mystery storytelling but is accompanied by disturbing mature themes, grisly violence and sexual content, what's the story.

In OLDBOY, businessman Oh Dae-su ( Choi Min-sik ) is drunk one night and is arrested. While a friend picks him up from the police station, he's suddenly and mysteriously abducted. He finds himself in a room where he's served meals, given a television, and gassed every night at bedtime. He is locked up there for 15 long years, without explanation. After a time, he begins punching the walls, practice fighting, to take out his anger. He also makes an escape attempt, and is nearly out, but finds himself suddenly released. He goes looking for something to eat and meets chef Mi-do (Kang Hye-jung); she takes pity on him and brings him to her home. He becomes obsessed with figuring out why he was imprisoned and who did it. Little does he know the danger he will face, as well as the horrible truths he will discover.

Is It Any Good?

Park Chan-wook 's vicious story of vengeance is shocking but explores the complexity of human nature on a thrillingly primal level. The first images of Dae-su in Oldboy -- seen in Korean with English subtitles for this review -- are of an obnoxious drunk, but it's not long before his confinement makes us sympathetic; no one deserves this kind of torture. Yet his mind is free, and it's intriguing to see his attempts to pass the time, to hold onto something. All the while, the mystery of his imprisonment makes these moments doubly intriguing. Even after the character's release, Park continues to sustain the movie's intensity to the final shot, playing off of the character's transformation.

Now taut, darkened, and haunted, he's as unsure of himself around his love interest Mi-do as he is capable of violence. An unforgettable scene has him eating a live squid just to feel the sensation of it. But in arguably the movie's most famous shot, Park simply tracks left and right for several minutes as Dae-su fights dozens of men in real time. But within the adrenaline rush of his revenge journey, Mi-do (and other female characters) pay the price for male ego. Park fails to give them any agency, leaving a sour taste in an otherwise intriguing and brutal mystery.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about Oldboy 's violence . How intense is it, and what effect does it have? Is it thrilling? Gruesome? How much is directed toward women?

How does sex come into the plot? Is sex used in a negative way? What kind of values does the movie impart?

Why are revenge stories so appealing or satisfying? In real life, what does revenge accomplish?

Is Dae-su a sympathetic character? Does he start that way? At what point do we begin to identify with him?

Movie Details

• In theaters : July 30, 2003
• On DVD or streaming : March 25, 2005
• Cast : Choi Min-sik , Kang Hye-jung , Yoo Ji-tae
• Director : Park Chan-wook
• Inclusion Information : Asian directors, Asian writers
• Studio : Tartan Video
• Genre : Thriller
• Run time : 120 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : strong violence including scenes of torture, sexuality and pervasive language
• Last updated : June 20, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

Battle Royale

13 Assassins

Oldboy (2013)

Thriller movies, excellent adventure movies for family fun.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Oldboy (2013) (United States, 2013)

Sometimes I don't understand the Hollywood mindset. Who thought remaking Park Chan-wook's 2003 cult classic, Oldboy , was a good idea? Because of the story's sheer perversity, there's no possible mainstream appeal in this new interpretation. The movie was destined for box office purgatory before it went before the cameras. What's more, the decision to make this "a Spike Lee joint" is as questionable as embarking upon the remake path in the first place. While few will debate Lee's ability as a director, this isn't close to being in his wheelhouse. Oldboy cries out for a Brian DePalma, a Quentin Tarantino, or even a David Lynch. The end result bears out the suspicion that Lee isn't right for the material, nor it for him.

The screenplay by Mark Protosevich sticks reasonably close to the narrative trajectory of the original film (which, in turn, was adapted from a graphic novel), although some of the seemingly inconsequential changes, when taken in total, undermine what worked about Park's version. Lee's approach is straightforward - a distinct change from the sometimes unhinged style exhibited in the original. Most of the flaws remain intact while new ones are added into the mix. Critical viewers may note that there were problems with the ending of the first Oldboy ; those issues are only magnified in the remake and, although the content of the "shock" remains the same, its impact is diluted.

Josh Brolin plays Joe Doucett, a thoroughly dislikeable alcoholic asshole who ends up imprisoned in a faux hotel room for 20 years for reasons unknown. The character is presented so distastefully that one is tempted to sympathize with his captor. Early in his incarceration, Joe learns that his ex-wife has been raped and murdered and his young daughter has been put up for adoption. Joe is the prime suspect in the killing - his DNA, harvested by the people responsible for his current situation, is found at the crime scene. After two decades, he is suddenly and inexplicably released. At first, he's lost - a modern-day Rip van Winkle, but then he gets help from an old buddy, Chucky (Michael Imperioli), and Marie (Elizabeth Olsen), a woman who works with the downtrodden. Joe learns the identity of his captor - a man named Chaney (Samuel L. Jackson). But the real target for his revenge is Adrian (Sharlto Copley), the man who paid Chaney. There are two questions for Joe to answer: Why did Adrian imprison him for 20 years? And why did he release him? Aided by Marie, Joe goes on a trail that leads into his own past.

Brolin is either miscast or misdirected; it's difficult to determine which. He wanders through the film in stupor, his face set in an angry mask, looking a lot like Nick Nolte of about 20 years ago. The dour nature of the character is reflected in the tone. The only time Lee has any fun with the pulpy elements of the story is when Joe takes on a flotilla of attackers and dispatches them with relative ease (even though he gets a knife in the back for his troubles). Lee directs this scene with a macabre sense of humor and the choreography is smoother and easier to follow than Park's version of the same sequence.

Elizabeth Olsen makes Marie sweet and vulnerable but, although her performance is fine, the relationship between Joe and Marie doesn't work. This is in part due to inept scripting which forces an almost instant romance between these two without allowing it to develop and in part due to the limited chemistry resulting from the robotic way in which Brolin plays Joe. Meanwhile, while Samuel L. Jackson plays Chaney with typical Samuel L. Jackson heat, Sharlto Copley's Adrian is a weak villain whose slick, over-the-top portrayal undermines the film's central tragedy. Oldboy is about consequences but Copley's character is so deliciously evil that the backstory never gains the necessary traction.

Oldboy really should be rated NC-17. The violence is at times extreme - even more so than in the original, and that's saying something. (No octopus, however, except in passing.) The most disturbing scenes aren't the fights but the instances when the effects of shotgun blasts to the head are depicted without cutting away. This material isn't appropriate for anyone under 17. One could argue whether it's appropriate for anyone over 17, but that's another issue.

Lee's Oldboy feels unnecessary - an inferior remake of a movie that had a singular impact upon its release a decade ago. What's more, Oldboy doesn't set out to improve upon the original but merely to change a few thing and a lot of what's altered degrades the material. Those few who see this version without knowing a thing about what they're getting into may be surprised and shocked by some of what's on screen but fans of Oldboy are likely to be disappointed. If I made a list of the most disappointing films of 2013, this would earn a place on it.

Comments Add Comment

• Rear Window (1954)
• Sleuth (1969)
• Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
• Neon Demon, The (2016)
• Left Behind (2014)
• Jade (1995)
• No Country for Old Men (2007)
• Milk (2008)
• Flirting with Disaster (1996)
• Into the Blue (2005)
• Men in Black III (2012)
• Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)
• Wind River (2017)
• Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
• Silent House (2012)
• Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
• District 9 (2009)
• Elysium (2013)
• Maleficent (2014)
• Chappie (2015)
• Gringo (2018)
• A-Team, The (2010)

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

Movie Review – Oldboy (2013)

December 7, 2013 by admin

Oldboy , 2013.

Directed by Spike Lee. Starring Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Michael Imperioli and Pom Klementieff.

Obsessed with vengeance, a man sets out to find out why he was kidnapped and locked into solitary confinement for 20 years without reason.

Forget comparisons with Park Chan-wook’s cult favourite of the same name from 2003, and the questions around why remake it; let’s judge Spike Lee’s version of Oldboy on its own merits. It’s a different cast, a different setting, and aimed at a different audience; but the lasting impression of Lee’s film is just how dreadfully dull and routine it ends up becoming, after a promising start.

The first act is solid as we meet Joe Doucett (Josh Brolin), an all round screw up who is kidnapped in 1993 and locked in a room for two decades, forced to eat the same few takeaway meals over and over again whilst he watched the events of the world unfold on a TV set. We have an intriguing premise, Josh Brolin is holding our attention in a make or break performance, and it’s not something we see in the usual Hollywood thriller. So far so good, and even if you’ve seen the 2003 original there’s nothing so far to suggest this remake is inferior.

Then Doucett is released and the film rapidly loses control in every way possible; what was once an edgy and dark story plays out as just another standard thriller with the same genre beats we’ve seen countless times before. In what universe does Spike Lee think his audience will be fully emerged in a story where we watch characters using Google to do their detective work and in which an iPhone is used consistently to find information. Yes, this is a first world country in the year 2013 and we’re all used to doing the same thing as we see on screen, but in no way does that translate into an effective thriller. Very few things can bore an audience to distraction more than watching a character using the Shazam app and Google maps, yet Oldboy is proud to show us just how dull a thriller can quickly become. Moreover, when the film isn’t relying on Google to plug the gaps, we are forced to watch characters looking at old newspapers and school yearbooks whilst scene after scene is presented for no other than an exposition outpour. The final act was little else than characters telling us what happened in the past and Spike Lee expecting us to give a damn.

The relationship between Doucett and Marie Sebastain, a 20-something girl he meets (literally because the ridiculous storyline demands it and for no other reason) is woefully clunky and by pure happenstance. The film never makes us believe they would get together and get involved in this detective story, and all the time it’s part of the grand plan which makes the entire story seem utterly unbelievable. And whilst I mention the grand plan of the man who locked Doucett away for those 20 years, Sharlto Copley as Adrian is brutally bad and derails every scene he is in; whoever decided he should act and talk the way he does here needed to be reeled in after the first dailies were seen because he is off the scale terribly with every line and mannerism. It’s like he is in a totally different film and Spike Lee should have had the foresight to see just how terrible this performance was going to look. With his performances in Elyisum and now this, Copley has to be considered for the worst actor of the year.

If Copley, the screenwriting-by-numbers dialogue, and the attempts to bore the audience to death with Apple products doing all the hard work are this bad, then we must come full circle to my earlier point; why remake Oldboy ? I should start by saying I don’t care too much for Park Chan-wook’s film other than just liking it and it’s not something so sacred to me that I was outraged by the news of a remake. The concept of a man being held prisoner in a room for 20 years without an inkling as to why only to be suddenly released could take that character and story in countless different directions, so why the need to stick to the original story yet still change parts? Why couldn’t Spike Lee’s Oldboy be a totally different tale than Park Chan-wook’s? The ‘shocking’ conclusion and story to Park Chan-wook’s film didn’t satisfy me and I never found it to be a gripping tale, and the same is true for this remake but I question how audiences will respond with an American cast; there was something about watching such a sick plot taking place in a different culture which perhaps gave Park Chan-wook’s film an overall pass but in Lee’s hands it just come across as dumb, convoluted, and utterly silly.

Park Chan-wook’s film is famous for its fight sequence where one man armed with a hammer takes on many men in a tight corridor; the scene is original, one take, and fits with the style and tone of the rest of the film but wasn’t necessary to drive the plot, it just looked great. In Lee’s film we also get that scene and it serves no purpose other than to connect the two films; if Lee wanted to make this his own film, why include this sequence? Why use a hammer again? Why do it in one take? The scene was special to Park Chan-wook but here it’s just imitation.

Therein lies the problem with Oldboy ; as its own entity is one third of an interesting film and two thirds a dull thriller without the thrills. As a remake it’s clearly inferior and never sells the story which made gave the original its originality. So what was the point? 

Flickering Myth Rating : Film ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ 

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

Lock, Stock and The Essential Guy Ritchie Movies

The cinematic crossovers we need to see, the mummy at 25: a rare genre hybrid action-adventure that delivers in spades, ranking arnold schwarzenegger’s post-governator starring roles.

The Best Love Triangle Movies To Watch After Challengers

Four Weddings and a Funeral at 30: The Quintessentially British Romantic Comedy

Essential Forgotten Films That Are Well Worth Seeking Out

The Most Shocking Movies of the 1970s

Takashi Miike: The Modern Godfather of Horror

The Must-See Horror Movies From Every Decade

• Comic Books
• Video Games
• Toys & Collectibles
• Articles and Opinions
• About Flickering Myth
• Write for Flickering Myth
• Advertise on Flickering Myth
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy