Review of Oldboy (2013) by Ws W — 02 Aug 2014

Having never seen the original version of the film, I went into this new version in the unique position of having no preconceptions about the film. That isn't to say that I was completely unfamiliar with the material. In fact, I had seen quite a lot of the original over the years, including the infamous hallway scene. But aside from that and the overall premise, there was nothing skewing my opinion heading in.

With that said, I have to say that this film is a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, everything is well done. The film looks good and is edited in a way that keeps everything moving, and we get a committed performance from Brolin in the lead role. For the first half of the movie, I think it is exactly what it needs to be, a tension building mystery that leaves the audience wondering what's going happening. On the other hand, once we enter the second half of the film, it starts to crumble beneath its poorly maintained lines of reasoning. That is to say, plot holes begin to spring too often for your mind to ignore them.

Now generally I am not one to point out plot holes, or really give them any thought at all, but there was a point about three quarters through where they began to fill my head and I realized that everything that was happening seemed sillier and sillier. By the time we find out what is going on, there is no longer any mystery behind it. And when we discover the motivations behind the events that are transpiring, all believability is lost. The notion that someone could do all this for that reason not only makes us roll our eyes, but destroys any credibility to the drama.

Now I said it was a mixed bag, and it probably seems like I have mostly bad things to say, but the one silver lining to the film is in its end game. Even though how we get there is beyond belief, the actual plan of the villain is probably one of the most unique and devious I've ever seen. I'm sure fans of the original know it already, but I didn't see it coming at all. So as far as a rating goes, this is a tough one, but if you haven't seen the original I would say to give it a shot just for the ending, it's not one you are likely to see again. 6/10.