OLDBOYDIRECTED BY: CHAN-WOOK PARK
WRITTEN BY: JO-YUN HWANG, CHUN-HYEONG LIM, JOON-HYUNG LIM, & CHAN-WOOK PARK
BASED ON THE COMICS BY: NOBUAKI MINEGISHI
OVERALL SCORE: 8.75/10
WRITTEN BY: JO-YUN HWANG, CHUN-HYEONG LIM, JOON-HYUNG LIM, & CHAN-WOOK PARK
BASED ON THE COMICS BY: NOBUAKI MINEGISHI
OVERALL SCORE: 8.75/10
After having been imprisoned in a hotel room and fed nothing but fried dumplings for 15 years, Oh Dae-su (Min-sik Choi) hunts down those responsible.
Part of Chan-wook Park's Vengeance trilogy Oldboy is one of those films I've had on my must see list for some time but never really got around to seeing it. As vengeance films go Oldboy is definitely a unique experience. Insanely hard hitting on action scenes, well developed story, solid combination of all the basics, and an ending that screams "WHAT THE ****." Some films develop into a shock, some movies develop into gross, Oldboy says screw it all and goes for absolutely everything. Ambiguous? Yes. Crazy? Oh definitely. Let's just say it's hard hitting enough I felt like the only way I could be saved is through a long, hot, bath.
Min-sik Choi perfectly encompasses the very odd, and constantly transforming, Oh Dae-su. He manages to make a generally unlikable character, very sympathetic (for the most part). Back by Chan-wook Park's almost John Woo (pre-american) style for action scenes, many of which are insanely memorable. Then again all would amount to nothing if it wasn't for the element of captivation. From the opening shot to the very end, Park keeps Oldboy high octane, mentally engaging, and really drags the viewer into this world. It makes the film absolutely unmistakable, impossible to take your eyes off, and at the same time painfully harsh.
Oldboy doesn't deal with your basic vengeance plot points. It's not about what you'll probably expect, and even that's giving it too little credit. At the same time Oldboy is incredibly violent, and risque, to the point of being an exercise in excess. Scenes are visually powerful, and emotionally shocking, it hits every moral center you have, forcing you to confront your just about everything you think. There's little denying just how intense of a movie going experience this film is. A definite must see.
Not for the faint of heart, Oldboy is an engrossing experience unlike almost any other film I've seen to date.
Part of Chan-wook Park's Vengeance trilogy Oldboy is one of those films I've had on my must see list for some time but never really got around to seeing it. As vengeance films go Oldboy is definitely a unique experience. Insanely hard hitting on action scenes, well developed story, solid combination of all the basics, and an ending that screams "WHAT THE ****." Some films develop into a shock, some movies develop into gross, Oldboy says screw it all and goes for absolutely everything. Ambiguous? Yes. Crazy? Oh definitely. Let's just say it's hard hitting enough I felt like the only way I could be saved is through a long, hot, bath.
Min-sik Choi perfectly encompasses the very odd, and constantly transforming, Oh Dae-su. He manages to make a generally unlikable character, very sympathetic (for the most part). Back by Chan-wook Park's almost John Woo (pre-american) style for action scenes, many of which are insanely memorable. Then again all would amount to nothing if it wasn't for the element of captivation. From the opening shot to the very end, Park keeps Oldboy high octane, mentally engaging, and really drags the viewer into this world. It makes the film absolutely unmistakable, impossible to take your eyes off, and at the same time painfully harsh.
Oldboy doesn't deal with your basic vengeance plot points. It's not about what you'll probably expect, and even that's giving it too little credit. At the same time Oldboy is incredibly violent, and risque, to the point of being an exercise in excess. Scenes are visually powerful, and emotionally shocking, it hits every moral center you have, forcing you to confront your just about everything you think. There's little denying just how intense of a movie going experience this film is. A definite must see.
Not for the faint of heart, Oldboy is an engrossing experience unlike almost any other film I've seen to date.
1 better thoughts:
I hope to get a chance to review this soon, but you nailed a lot of great points. This film wasn't at all what I expected, perhaps because, like you said, it is an incredibly unique and original film.
I love your comment about how Oldboy screws convention and goes for the jackpot. Some of the fight scenes are brilliant, and I don't know how the lead actor was able to do some of the things that were on screen.
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