Intriguing mix of "Memento" meets "Payback" by way of "Chinatown"

Rating: 7/10 (28 March 2005)

OLDBOY (2005) **1/2 Min-Sik Choi, Ji tae Yu, Hye-jeong Kang. (Korean with subtitles) Intriguing mix of "Memento" meets "Payback" by way of "Chinatown" in this mixed bag of revenge, incest and vengeance when simple businessman Choi is abducted and held prisoner for 15 years seemingly inexplicably and when set free is given 5 days by his mysterious kidnapper (Yu) to resolve exactly why he was. Filmmaker Chan-wook Park (who co-wrote with Jo-yun Hwang, Chun-hyeong Lim, Joon-hyung Lim and Garon Tsuchiya) has a strong visual sense overall with his many layered edits and camera angles askew yet ultimately the film suffers in the overblown last act yet Choi makes a very original anti-hero with echoes of Charles Bronson and the "Death Wish" films but something seems lost in the translation with its execution although there are a few highlights including some visceral fight sequences and the edge-on-your-seat intrigue as to how the payoff will finally arrive.