Review of Oldboy (2013) by Samuel J — 08 Dec 2013

I never expected a lot from this given that the original is one of my top ten, but that also meant I had to watch it despite what could be described as indifferent reviews. How something so clod-hopppingly charmless could have been made out of Park Chan-Wook's original escapes me.

Nothing wrong with Josh Brolin's performance, but he is no Choi Min-Sik, also Elizabeth Olsen does much to fulfil earlier promise, but Sharlto Copley at least seems to have realised the lumbering vehicle he has hitched his talent to.

I can only assume he is playing it for laughs in an attempt to make another classic 'Showgirls' cult film. The liberties taken with the story in no way enhance it, just make the whole saga more incomprehensible.

This obviously isn't Spike Lee's metier and maybe there was some studio interference in the end product. It was, however, just a clumsy attempt at a true original.