Fun, but ultimately flawed

Rating: 7/10 (26 February 2005)

I wasn't able to find the time to see Oldboy at the cinema despite the overwhelming praise it received on release, so I had to wait until today to see the DVD.
Looking at the voting results here the split between the usual "love it" or "hate it" responses are even more marked than usual and I've been looking forward to the DVD release so that I could make up my own mind. I'm a little disappointed to admit that I neither love or hate Oldboy.
Oldboy is not a bad film, but it didn't bowl me over as I'd been hoping - maybe the months of anticipation meant that my hopes were always going to be dashed.
The main problem with this movie is that it's just not very well explained. OK, that can be expected in the beginning where we are all as confused as Dae-su Oh, but too much of Oldboy is played out without the audience having much of an idea about what they're seeing.
The explanation, when it arrives after a brief period of simplistic detective work, is something of a disappointment and, frankly, seems fairly trivial compared to the effort expended on exacting revenge for it. Dae-su Oh had forgotten the incident himself, and I really couldn't blame him.
Overall, definitely worth watching for the great atmosphere and some nice set pieces, but a little underwhelming in the final analysis.