Review of Oldboy (2013) by Brent D — 12 Apr 2014

Review:

This movie is not even close to the original Oldboy, but it's watchable and the storyline has many twists which keeps it interesting. Josh Brolin put in an excellent performance, but it's the storyline that let's the movie down. If Spike Lee would have given the movie a different name and stayed away from the original, the movie wouldn't have been that bad, but the whole shock value from the original is gone so Spike Lee had to add in a few new elements which just didn't work. I also think that Josh Brolin wasn't the perfect choice for the leading role because of his, all American brutal acting style which is far from the character who played the original role, but that's not to say that he didn't give it his all. Anyway, the film is watchable and intense throughout, but I expected better from such a great concept. Watchable!

Round-Up:

Judging by the money that this movie made, it seems like people are staying away from Spike Lee movies nowadays because of his political views and the amount of arguments that he has had in Hollywood. Back in the day, his movies were very pro-black and he had a certain type of audience that always rushed to see his movies, but he has even lost that audience of late, hence the box office takings for this film. The question is, will he ever be taken seriously again? Anyway, Josh Brolin really pushed his acting skills to the limit with this film and it's a shame that he didn't get the props that he deserved. The weight lose and the mad fighting scenes showed that he was really taking this role seriously, but the script let him down. I would watch it again just for his performance, but the movie in whole was poor.

Budget: $30million.

Worldwide Gross: $5million (Terrible!).

I recommend this movie to people who are familiar with the original Oldboy which is about a man whose locked in a room 20 years. 4/10.