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An average movie

Posted : 7 years, 10 months ago on 29 May 2016 09:38

The lack of of originality in the  American cinema nowadays is just really sad and, instead of coming up with something new,  they keep giving us some endless sequels and they are ready to remake pretty much anything at this point. From all these remakes, this must be the weirdest one and definitely one of the most misguided. I mean, can you believe that, at some point, it was supposed to be directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Wil Smith? At least, with Spike Lee and Josh Brolin involved,  it did sound slightly more promising but, the end-result was still disappointing, I'm afraid. Apparently, Lee's version was actually supposed to be more than 30 mins longer but, even with a longer duration, I'm not sure if it would been really much better. Basically, the main issue is that it is actually a really absurd story but the original version was so well done, so spellbinding to behold, it never bothered me,  in the contrary. Here, every 5 minutes, I was rolling my eyes in complete disbelief. I have to admit it, if this story would have been completely new to me, it might have worked better because, from the very first moment that Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen meet each other, I already knew the real nature of their relationship and, in the same way,  the twist ending barely worked this time. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it was well made, with some decent performances but the whole thing was just simply seriously misguided. 


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History won't repeat, I mean sometime in a remake.

Posted : 9 years, 7 months ago on 12 August 2014 01:27

One of my all time favorite world cinema is the Korean version of this movie. Remakes are okay, but some movies won't suit for recreation because of its masterpiece value, believing that won't come close for the second time. Just like Mona Lisa, Starry Night, Birth of Venus, The Last Supper and other arts, it should have left alone untouched. Like Japanese did, because it was their story after all. This American version was good, but very much commercialized with the fast pace approach kind of ruined. If I had not seen the original, probably I would have liked it. I knew the twist so I did not get the excitements in those parts. So those who are not familiar with the 2003 movie can definitely have a good time.

It was not a copycat from frame to frame, many things were altered in this movie. The most laughable was to see gangsters fighting with knives, hammers and bare-hand like the Korean style. What I know in American gangster theme is that they take a gun and bang bang. The first poster where Josh Brolin comes out of the large wooden box was kind of funny, gives the impression of a comedy movie. I liked Josh Brolin in 'Labor Day' and yet again he was not bad in this film except if you compare him with his counterpart from the Korean movie, Choi Min Shik. It is one of the best role he has ever played, sadly the movie was not recieved well due to many other reasons than him.


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Terrible Remake.

Posted : 9 years, 11 months ago on 2 May 2014 03:29

It's kinda hard to review this movie because it's a remake, but i'm going to review it as a separate movie first, and then as a remake to illustrate the differences.

If you haven't watched the original, then this is an OK movie, not good enough and not bad at all, the story was unusual and great, Josh Brolin was spectacular and that is the good side about this movie.
The bad side was the terrible performance by Sharlto Copley,
another terrible performance by Samuel L. Jackson and the fact that the movie looks rushed with no attention to details, for instance, Joe Doucett was imprisoned in a room for a 20 years, so you'd think there is an effect on him outside, like the fact that he shouldn't be able to know that he's holding a phone, and it shouldn't be that easy to learn how to use a computer, and it should be awkward for him to approach people and talk to them because he haven't done that in 20 years.
Something i noticed about Spike Lee, that he's not that talented as a director, i mean I've seen 25th Hour and that movie made me hate Edward Norton, anyway, Spike Lee don't have the ability to show you something without actually showing it to you, Also he relied on visual effects to show you flashbacks which was terrible idea, because you don't feel them at all, you don't feel sad, you don't feel awkward, i mean visual effects have their own purposes, don't force them in like this.
So overall an OK "American" movie with interesting story.

Now, if you have seen the original, then you'd think that this remake is an insult, and to be truly honest, it is.
Oldeuboi is light years better than this, that movie had depth, and mystery and so much elements missing from this,
Min-sik Choi (the guy who played the leading role) got fat and became shredded during the movie, he even got old and you can feel him getting old on every shot of him during the movie, and there was so much details in Oldeuboi, that you actually have to watch it twice, to fully appreciate them,
and the villain was dark,smart and good looking, the movie end left me astounded, asking myself what happened, it's like watching Shutter island by martin scorsese, the end leaves you with two assumptions, assumption one and two, you can choose one and go on with your day.
Instead, Spike Lee played it plain and simple, he also altered the twist, but that didn't bother me that much.

Overall, don't waste your time on this and go watch the original, BUT if you want to feel the differences then go ahead, it's your time.


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Oldboy review

Posted : 9 years, 11 months ago on 26 April 2014 03:01

So mechanic, repetitive, illustrative of an 'action packed idea to make a US version of an asian thriller', tha I miss oldboy Spike Lee. Brolin is ok


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Simply unnecessary

Posted : 9 years, 11 months ago on 6 April 2014 03:17

"Heaven make me free of it. The rest is silence."

Park Chan-wook's 2003 thriller Oldboy is, simply putting it, a masterpiece of revenge cinema. It's a cult classic and is regarded by many as one of the great Asian films of all time. So obviously Hollywood thought it'd be a great idea to remake it for a western audience. Many fans, including myself, were against this, but once news was released about the cast, my interest was suddenly peaked. With a cast including Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen, and the controversial Spike Lee directing, it looked as if the Oldboy remake could legitimately be a quality film. My god, that is not the case. Lee's Oldboy is just an appalling film which doesn't know what tone to take. Initially I was interested to see what Lee would bring to the project, but at the end of the day, this is a shallow and pointless film. It's simply another unnecessary remake that doesn't come close to the original.


Joe Doucett (Josh Brolin) is a businessman who is kidnapped and locked away in solitary confinement for 20 years. He is given no reason as to why and is subjected to the same routine throughout his stay. During his imprisonment, he learns that he has been framed for the murder of his wife and that his daughter is now living with a foster family. Once released, Joe is given the mission to find out why he was imprisoned and who is responsible, with the added motivation of saving his daughter. It is during this time that he befriends Marie (Elizabeth Olsen), a young nurse who wants to help Joe with his search for the truth.

Written by Mark Protosevich, Oldboy's biggest flaw is that it does not know what tone to take. When the film opened, it seemed as if Lee was going for a different approach to the source material, with a much more gritty style. However, that soon changes when he starts taking imagery seen in the original and unnecessarily shoe-horning it into the remake. It doesn't gel together. The original wasn't exactly a gritty movie - it was stylised and had a Hitchcockian element to it. The remake tries to be both but it simply does not work. For example, the scene in which Joe is released is done quite closely to the original, where he finds himself inside a suitcase, this time on a grassfield. In the original, it worked as the whole film had a surreal tone. With the remake, they've established a gritty style, and thus someone being locked into a suitcase just looks out-of-place.


To be fair, Protosevich doesn't completely follow the original story, and does make a few changes to the story. One of the most memorable aspects of the original Oldboy is the twist. The remake has one too, except with a few changes. While I don't think the result was good, I respect the decision of the writer. However, Protosevich's script has absolutely no subtlety at all. The character of Joe is just too one-sided. He's not exactly an interesting protagonist. From the opening of the film, Joe is a horrible person, who doesn't seem to care about his ex-wife and daughter and is an alcoholic. He just doesn't feel like a human-being. In the original, the protagonist Oh Dae-su was an alcoholic, but he still loved his daughter. He felt more relatable and human. A lot of his character is left to the viewer's interpretation, and whether he's a total jerk or not is not shoved into our faces. That's something this remake doesn't take into account - show, not tell. Everything is spelt out for the audience as if they're kids. Once Joe's imprisoned, the film starts to become a redemption story for him, which just feels so forced in my opinion.

Josh Brolin is definitely one of the best things about the movie. When I found out he was cast as the hero, I clapped. This was excellent casting, as he fit the bill perfectly. While he doesn't have much to work with considering how shallow his character is, he gets the job done and delivers an engaging performance. Elizabeth Olsen, who I've got a massive crush on, is also terrific as the Marie, even though her character is criminally underdeveloped. Sharlto Copley plays the villain of the film, and he is just awful. Now I think Copley is great actor. However, he is so mis-cast as the villain here. This is another aspect that just clashes with the gritty tone. Many of the villains are just cartoons. It isn't just Copley, but his character's henchmen, who all look like they belong in a fucking kung fu film. Samuel L. Jackson is also unbelievably hammy in his role. While he delivers the kind of performance fans would want to see from him, it doesn't work in this film.


It blows my mind that the original Oldboy was made for a budget of $3 million, while this remake cost $30 million. This movie looks cheap. While it's shot well by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, a lot of the sets and locations just feel cramped. Lee's also taken many visuals from the original, but has no idea what to do with them in his remake. Nothing looks interesting here, even when it tries to be stylish. The film is also shockingly edited, with cuts that just leave the audience confused. That being said, those who are looking for violence will get it with Oldboy. All the violent special effects look convincing, and the fight scenes are handled well. A highlight is a one-shot brawl where Joe must fight a whole gang of crooks. While it's a sequence that is literally taken from the original, which to be honest did it a lot better, it's an enjoyable action sequence.

It's really impossible for me to recommend this version of Oldboy. If you're someone who doesn't mind subtitles, then I'd tell you to go watch the original classic. Even if you hate subtitles or just don't like asian cinema, I still wouldn't recommend this to you. Lee has stated the original film was supposed to be over 2 hours and that the studio cut his film down to around 90 minutes. While that version may be superior, I can only review the film I saw. The Oldboy remake is just a shoddy thriller that doesn't know what its doing most of the time.


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Oldboy review

Posted : 10 years, 1 month ago on 25 February 2014 12:14

I have been curious about this American remake of the original Oldboy for awhile. I hear bad reviews about it, but mostly that is from people who have seen the original. I have seen the original as well, but I am going to watch this as if it is the only version I have seen. Plus it has a great cast consisting of Josh Brolin, Elisabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Michael Imperioli, James Ransone, Rami Malek, and Lance Reddick. I really didn't like any of the characters in this one and you really don't feel bad for the "hero" or the "villain" as they are all really messed up and disgusting people. The acting is alright. It was pretty boring though and not much happens. There are a few decent fight scenes. There are scenes that pay homage to the original, but for the most part it is just it's own movie albeit not a very good one. The flashback scene was more funny and creepy than tragic. The twist was altered, but pretty much the same as the original. I would say skip this one and just watch the original.


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