S10 Reviews: Oldboy (2003)

Rating: 8/10 (4 September 2005)

Dae-su Oh (Min-sik Choi) one day on his daughter's 3rd birthday gets picked up for a drunk-and-disorderly charge. When a friend comes to bail him out his life takes a bit of a strange detour that has him kidnapped by anonymous cretins who put him away for 15 years. During his 15 years of captivity Dae-su manages keep track of the outside world through television while the captors do weird things to him. One day he is just set free and he will need to find the answers he needs and the vengeance he craves all while finding the remnants of his shattered life.
This crazy Korean flick has had the scene abuzz for months and after viewing it I see why. 'Oldboy' is a pretty twisted take on a standard "You done me wrong" style revenge flick that will keep you engaged and on your toes to the end. 'Oldboy" is wonderfully shot from its maniacally paced action scenes to the New Zealand landscape in the finale. Min-sik Choi does an amazing job in the lead. He runs practically the whole gamut of human emotion, all in a hyper-convincing matter. You can't help but feel for the guy when he finally gets all the answers and the plot gets uber-evil. A must see for Asian enthusiasts and for exploitation fans alike. The ending is way twisted and one wonders how the American remake will handle it.