Overrated but good

Rating: 8/10 (15 December 2008)

Oldboy is an entertaining film, but highly overrated.
The story is interesting. Oh Dae-Su being imprisoned by mysterious people for fifteen years and teaching himself how to fight inside his zoo-like habitat is an interesting mystery and one that I wanted to find out. The plot reminded me of The Count of Monte Cristo early on, and when the movie referenced Monte Cristo then I realized it would go off in a different direction, and it did.
The movie and mystery dragged a bit when Oh Dae-Su was back out in the real world. There are hardly any clues given throughout the film. A mystery is supposed to unravel piece by piece, and this movie was set up, then ninety minutes of the same questions not being answered, then everything gets wrapped up in ten minutes at the end.
I liked the twist at the end of Oh Dae-Su falling in love with his young daughter, but the way it was kept secret and explained was silly. The villain went through so much trouble, care, and effort to set it all up. When he is explaining the twist to Oh Dae-Su it seems so convoluted and complicated that it loses its impact. There is just too much explanation at the end, done with cheesy flashbacks of the villain and his sister. The idea of the twist is good, but there was just too much to explain. The reason the twist in the Sixth Sense worked was because it took one a second to tell, and then we are SHOWN some previous shots in the film that help support the twist. It lasts about a minute.
Oldboy seems to be a film that people like because of the ending, that is why I am so critical of it. Overall, I was entertained and enjoyed the movie, but it is certainly not one of the best movies ever made, as many suggest.