Why Is This Rated So High? Because It's THAT Good!

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2005)

OLDBOY (4+ outta 5 stars) This is one of those movies that is just going to get better and better every time I watch it... I just know it. An incredible Korean thriller that really packs a punch at the end (though it is a very unconventional ending and bound to bother some people). I can't really say too much about the movie without risk of giving things away... but here's the movie in a nutshell. After being bailed out of jail on a drunk and disorderly charge Oh Daesu (Min-Sik Choi) is kidnapped and confined to small apartment where he is cut off from the entire world except for a TV. His meals are brought to him through a small trap door and every now and then he is gassed into unconsciousness and his captors clean up after him. After living like this for FIFTEEN YEARS he is suddenly set free with no explanation. He vows bloody revenge on the person who did this to him but he also desperately needs the answer to the question "why"? To say too much more would ruin the odd twists and turns. The movie gets pretty nasty at times (explicit sex and violence) but is not a senseless barrage of constant action like some Asian thrillers. Watching it for the first time I wasn't quite sure what to make of it at times... but having finished it the first time I can't wait to go back and see it again.