Synopsis:
After being kidnapped and imprisoned
for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor
in 5 days.
Brian's
Rating: A+ : Excellent movie!! It goes to show that if you reach outside of
the Hollywood box you can find some really talented film makers that we never
hear about. If one is just willing to read subtitles, the reward can easily
make up for it when you find good foreign directors.
This is the very first Korean film that I have seen, and it sets the bar
extremely high for any future Korean films I may see. After thinking about it
for a day, I simply can not think of anything to critique about it. The acting
was very good, especially by the lead actor. The directing was fresh and very
well done. It was edited well, and the script was both entertaining and
captivating. About the only thing it lacked was breathtaking special effects,
but it simply did not need it, nor would they even fit into the style.
It is very hard to review the flow of the story here without spoiling the film.
The script is written in such as way as to slowly reveal plot elements as it
goes along. All I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed it, and after thinking
back on it, the plot is tied together quite nicely. There probably are plot
holes, but they are not evident.
I can safely say that the core of the plot is about revenge, and that it is done
very well. The lead character is mysteriously imprisoned for 15 years and
needless to say he does not like it very much. I am not sure what it says about
me that I like a good revenge based plot (Kill Bill and Wrath of Khan are two
examples), but I thoroughly enjoyed how it was laid out in this movie. The
revenge plot elements are layered at least 3 levels deep, and done in such a way
as to not be confusing.
I highly suggest those of you who have Netflix to put this on the top of your
queue. Due to it being a foreign film that nobody has heard of, it has very low
availability. It sat on the top of our queue for about 90 days before we
finally received it.
This is thoroughly entertaining movie that I believe should be receiving more
attention. It garners one of the rare A+ ratings I give out, and is well
deserved.
The
Freak's Rating: D : Wow, I honestly can't see why Brian rated this as
highly as he did. With so many movies out that truly merit this high
praise, Oldboy falls a football field short of a perfect film...in nearly every
way.
After a dismal opening to the film in
a police station, mystery is immediately thrust into the storyline and you
quickly move to the edge of your seat. For the next half hour of the film
you are tortured along with the main character as you attempt to make sense of
what the film is doing to you. Though an interesting take on
"entertainment", I was not at all amused. Intriguing as it is to be taken
prisoner against your will, the mystery just didn't have enough meat to it to
keep me entranced.
There is a scene that is amazingly
framed involving a hallway where Oh Dae-Sue takes on a myriad of bad guys that
sets the film's style. Sadly, even this shot goes on about a minute too
long and by the end I was saying, "OK, enough already". The film never
quite replicates that style in any other scene, despite the clever set design
for the film's climactic scene. Recycled cinematography is scattered
throughout, showcasing little originality.
Twists in the plot, though hinted at
a tad strongly at times, are pleasantly surprising at times, but never did I get
the "ah-ha!" moment that I should have (primarily because of the aforementioned
hinting). Performances are solid by Oh Dae-Sue and his love interest, but
other performances fall flat and the antagonist isn't nearly as despicable as he
should be.
The "reveal" of Oh Dae-Sue's
imprisoner wasn't gripping in the least and the final 15 minutes of Oldboy are
nonsensical at best. Reasoning for imprisonment is so ridiculous that one
could never have forseen it or even justify it after learning the nature of it.
Oh Dae-Sue and the audience are both challenged early on to discover the
reasoning for the imprisonment and it is impossible to predict based upon how
the film is constructed. I was reminded of I Know What You Did Last
Summer, where you spent the entire film trying to figure out why the killings
were happening, only to discover the killer's identity was impossible to predict
and motive even more so. One particular action by the protagonist makes no
sense whatsoever and is proven so by the writing nearly immediately after he
does it.
Advice to those that do check it
out...the "moving" ending, is best taken with director commentary to truly
understand what the attempt at final resolution was meant to be...and even then
you are left in a state of confusion rather than satisfaction. In fact,
the director states in his final line of commentary, "thank you for watching
this horrible film". I'm sure it was a slam against critics who bashed it
and called it such, but for me it nearly sums it up perfectly.
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