Review of Oldboy (2003) by Campbell P — 15 Sep 2015

Oldboy is a twisted, dark but deeply emotional thrill ride. It's a tale of revenge, love, and reliving the past. The story follows Oh Daesu, a man who is kidnapped by strangers who murder his wife and child.

He is left in this chamber for 15 years of his life and once he finds his escape, he wants vengeance. The star of the film Min-Sik Choi who shines as Daesu gave a phenomenal performance that completely blew me away.

His performance was emotion filled, exciting, and above all, heartbreak. This man goes through a whole adventure and thanks to the great direction and incredible cast we get to see his tragic lifestyle.

The direction is definitely something to talk about not only its quirky fast editing and transitions but it's great action sequences that were filmed exceedingly well. There's much style that went into the choreography of the combatting and it's vividly seen throughout the entire runtime.

While I did like Oldboy a lot there's just something missing in my mind that keeps me from giving it the props it probably deserves. I just feel like the whole movie was just really cruel and it just left me kind of depressed after the credits rolled.

The ending was great don't get me wrong, but it's just not quite the perfect ending. The whole story is said and then he is left without thought of anything that he's experienced and discovered and it just felt a bit too twisted.

It's really more of a revenge flick for someone else in the film who shall remain anonymous. The characters had shining moments and great chemistry and great character development, there's a lot to appreciate as to how developed these characters ended up.

There are a few challenging scenes to watch but I love it when directors put scenes that challenge the viewer because it was necessary and showed off how intense the situation really was. Oldboy has a lot to offer including a great story, great acting, and a really surprising twist.

Just don't expect happiness after viewing. B+.