Oldboy

Country: Korea
Genre: Drama
Release Year: 2003
Type: Movie

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Average User Review Score
70%

Oldboy Review
Oh Daesu is a normal man with a daughter and wife, but one night while he was drunk, an unknown person kidnapped him without explanation. He was then confined to a small room with only a TV, a bed, and a desk. Periodically, his room was sprayed with gas that immediately put him to sleep. For fifteen years Oh Daesu stayed in his cell and trained his body to be a killing machine so that he could destroy his captor after he escaped. But one day, Oh Daesu wakes up outside of his prison, where he is equipped with high quality clothes, money, and a cell phone. Without any direction in his life, Oh Daesu's only thought is to get revenge on the mysterious man who captured him and find out why he was imprisoned for fifteen years.

Oldboy is one of the best psychological thrillers I have seen from any country. The themes in the movie are questionable because they deal with some very immoral topics that most films wouldn't even dare to touch, but this film really used these themes to create incredible drama. Sex scenes are also very graphic, but everything falls within the boundaries of a rated-R film. Oldboy is also the second movie in a series of motion pictures directed by Park Chan-wook with revenge themes (although the storylines are separate).

After Oh Daesu is released from his prison, he meets Mi-do, who takes an immediate liking to him without reason. Oh Daesu's captor then contacts him, and challenges him to find out why he was captured. Oh Daesu's curiosity burns deep within him and he resolves to stop at nothing to find his captor, find out why he was kidnapped, and gain his revenge. This is where the real story begins.

Oh Daesu's journey through the fifteen years of his imprisoned life was remarkable. This part of the story could have easily felt too long and boring, but the director used fantastic effects to make this segment one of the most gripping and emotional parts of the film. If you can imagine how a normal man would react to fifteen years of imprisonment for no reason, then you will realize how brilliantly Oh Daesu portrayed this with his character. Oh Daesu also takes part in some fight scenes that had excellent choreography, but don't expect to watch this movie just for the action quality alone.

The main antagonist, Lee Woo Jin was especially bizarre, and he was crafted with a perfect mix of vengeance, lunacy, and grief, which shaped him as an extremely sadistic and perverse character. Woo Jin was also one of the more animated characters in this movie, and you'll see that he exudes a cheery exterior just to hide the inner evil and sorrow within him.

Mido, played by Kang Hye-Jeong, is a more reserved character, but the variety of different scenes this character had to perform was extraordinary. She is adept at playing innocent yet sexual, and her role in this movie is huge. The beauty of this actress is that she is willing to do anything for a character, including the graphic sex scenes (scenes that are actually in the film for a reason and not just for sex), and this is the main reason she is so believable as Mi-do. Her character in Oldboy is easily her best and most memorable film role.

Although some parts of Oldboy do not make much sense before the climax, everything really connects once the film is over. Questions such as why does this beautiful young woman fall in love with this dirty unclean old man? will be fully answered once the film is over. The ending is also open to interpretation, but I felt that the end was satisfactory despite the somewhat cliffhanger ending.

Beware, although this movie is excellent, it also is very twisted. This film is not for everyone, as it deals with subject matter that may offend many people. The plot resolution is probably different than what anyone expected due to the extreme resolution of the movie, but overall Oldboy is an excellently crafted psychological thriller that will capture your attention.

Written by Lance