Oldboy (2003)

Posted : 2 months, 1 week ago at Sep 11 0:46

A hard-bitten, no-holds barred tale of revenge that bites hard & holds no bars. And while I know that sentence is doublely redundant, it seems to fit the situation as far the level of emotional ravishing that this story leads it's characters up to. Brutal it may be, it's a film that depicts it story in an operatic level & with a refreshing energy to give the film a distinct life that widely separates it from the standard vengeance theme of traditional Hollywood-fare. IMO, a great flick that is armed with a in-your-face type of plot twist & proves that the medium of the graphic novel & comicbook is a world full of potentially good cinema, if one is willing to shuffle passed the mainstream same old same old.





Rating : 8/10

Posted : 1 year, 3 months ago at Aug 11 22:42

"Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone." Chan-wook Park's Oldboy is an intense, gut-wrenching Korean thriller. The film has received continuous accolades since its initial release in 2003 and its more global release in 2005. Oldboy is perhaps best remembered due to its heavy content: the violence, torture and themes are unflinching and far more uncompromisingly pungent than any American thriller. Instead of the customary over-the-top martial arts, the filmmakers opt for far more brutality. Witness a five-minute shot depicting the central character confronting a gang of thugs in a corridor. This is a nasty, vicious conflict without any fancy Jackie Chan-style choreography: this is dirty street fighting as men assault each other, sometimes falling, sometimes missin...Read more

Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago at Apr 10 0:54

Brilliant and disgustingly so. Min-sik Choi did a wonderful performance with his character. The transformation from drunken lout to tormented soul was excellent then add into that moments of insanity. I'm sure playing a man who has been imprisoned in solitary confinement for 15 years was hard but I felt he pulled it off enough to make it believable. The story line was great and had me just staring like a slack jawed idiot at times with scenes like when he gets to the office building and the teeth then afterwards (that's as much as I can mention without giving anything away) but the ending was was what made the movie. Not only finding out why he was imprisoned but that little extra bit of torment was what made it disgustingly brilliant. I'd highly recommend it but not if you're squeamish....Read more

Rating : 10/10

Posted : 2 years, 3 months ago at Jul 29 15:58

This film was just amazing. I loved it from the very first viewing. The extremely charistmatic Oh Dae-Su is kidnapped and imprissoned in a hotel room for 15 years without explanation or reprieve. During his imprisonment he is framed for the murder of his wife (all of which he sees on TV) and turns himself from a drunken ne'er do well into something of a fighting machine.

Released later on, he vows vengeance on his captor and seeks to illicit suffering on as many of his associates along the way. Add some amazingly raw fights and some gory torture scenes and you've got a staple of asian vengeance cinema. Steeped in black humour thoroughout, this is just a fantastic film.

Rating : 10/10

Posted : 3 years, 1 month ago at Oct 20 15:49

What a fantastic movie. It was recommended to me by a friend a couple years ago and just recently did I get around to watching it; if I knew what I was in for I would have definitely found time sooner! I would much rather have a film stay with you after the credits have finished rolling and Oldboy definitely does that. It is a very mysterious movie and always has you guessing as to what's really going on. I worried in a few places because it seemed like it was getting off-track but for the most part it always pulled it back with sensical story elements, finishing off with an explosive and intensely emotional ending. I only give it a 9 because like I quickly mentioned, there were a few parts that fell into the problem many Asian films have of not being coherent....Read more

Rating : 9/10