Review of Oldboy (2013) by Jamie R — 19 Nov 2014

Very minor spoilers ahead:

For anyone who hasn't seen Park Chan-wook's 2003 original film Oldboy and is looking for a hollywood film with a bit of bite, the 2013 American remake of the same name will probably satisfy. It's just bloody and shocking enough to entertain an average person, but not too much to seriously offend.

For anyone who HAS seen Park Chan-wook's 2003 original film, will most likely find nothing here to enjoy. Although it is still gory and violent, the remake is toned way down from the original, with the infamous twist bogged down by a happy ending that feels very out of place. The cast is talented as is director Spike Lee, but at the end of the day, this movie was only made to tone down the original film slightly and make it more marketable to North American audiences, so unless you've never seen the original film and are stubborn about movies with subtitles, go ahead and watch Spike Lee's Oldboy, you'll probably think it isn't half bad (because on it's own, it isn't really), but if you're in the mood something a bit darker and overall better, and can handle reading subtitles for two hours, go back and watch the 2003 original film because man, that is a good movie.