A cinematic bad boy

Rating: 10/10 (8 September 2016)

Oldboy really is an odd movie. It's totally unconventional, completely original, and unlike anything else you'll probably find out there, even in the realms of Asian cinema. To say too much would be to spoil the ride, but this is a film where you'll always be guessing what's going to happen next and never quite sure what's really going on.
It's a bleak, dark movie that begins very well indeed and stays strong throughout. Chan-wook Park is an expert director and really handles everything well. He's blessed with a superior leading man in Choi Min-sik, the kind of actor who gives his all to the movie, no restraint, no mild-mannered acting here...he lives and breathes the role and you believe in him at all times. Kang Hye-jeong, starring opposite him as love interest Mido, is also very effective, completely lovely and just right for her role.
As for the story... wow. This movie has a brilliant script that constantly surprises you right up until the very last scene. Twists are commonplace these days, but the one found here is the most shocking I've ever seen. OLDBOY has it all, really. A great story unveiled in a leisurely way, piece by piece, no hurry. Touches of the surreal – the disgusting octopus-eating scene is everything you'd imagine it to be. Great acting, great technical aspects. There's violence too, of course. The tooth-pulling torture is probably the most squirm-inducing bit, but the highlight for me is the one-take corridor battle which has to be seen to be believed. One guy with a hammer versus twenty hoods...well, watch it and find out what happens.
By the time the ending comes and you find out why Oh Dae-su was imprisoned, you realise you're watching a masterwork of cinema. It's not an easy film to sit through by any means, but it is affecting and it is very well made indeed. Challenging, gut-punching and outrageous: OLDBOY is one of the bad boys of our time.