"Even though I'm no more than a monster - don't I, too, have the right to live? " - Oh Dae Su

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2005)

It's rare that I see a movie I'm so excited about, that I watch it again the day after I've first viewed it. 'Oldboy' is one of the rare movies, a hyper-active energetic gore-fest with Tarantino undertones from South Korean filmmaker Chan-Wook Park. The film surrounds a thirty-something year-old businessman Oh-Dae Su (Min-Sik Choi) who pretty much gets wasted every night after work. One night he is kidnapped by mysterious captors and help prisoner in a window-less room that looks like a hotel room. He has now inter-action with anyone for 15 years inside there, so he starts to make a list of all the people he's ticked off in the last decade or so. One day he wakes up in an extra-large suitcase on top of an apartment building roof. From there he goes on a mission to find his long-lost daughter and to find whoever did this to him and exact revenge (a.k.a. = he's going to kill their ass!) Along the way, he befriends and falls in love with a young female sushi chef, Mi-Do (Hye-jeong Kang) who helps him on his journey. The feature also stars Ji-Tae Yu, Dae-Han Ji, Dal-Sul Oh, Byeong-OK Kim, Seung-Shin Lee and Jin-Seo Yun. Chan-Wook Park's directing is stellar to say the least while the acting is top-notch 100%. Min-Sik Choi gives a riveting performance as our hero, while Hye-jeong Kang does alright with her role. Dae-Han Ji and Dal-Sul Oh provide much needed humor for this crime-mystery while Ji-Tae Yu creates one of the most effective villains in recent years. 'Oldboy' isn't a film for everyone and if you don't have the stomach for it make sure you avoid it. But, for those with the same flair and passion for great cinema as me, I would definitely encourage you to give it a whirl. 'Oldboy' has very few flaws and a lot to love about it. Grade: B+