Unbelievably good, intelligent, provocative, powerful film. Malaya and I watched, spellbound, for the full 120 minutes. I could think of problems and find ways to pick at it if I tried, but why? It was not the best movie I've ever seen, but it was certainly in the top 5 or 10, at least based on the first viewing. My immediate comparisons are Reservoir Dogs and Fight Club, simply for the intense, gritty immediacy of those films. Neither approach Oldboy in plot and dramatic scope, though Oldboy is a bit like Fight Club in that plot twists late in the film make you want to watch it again, knowing what you know now.
Oldboy is the story of a hard-drinking Korean businessman who misses his daughter's birthday since he's in the drunk tank, and who then vanishes on the way home after being released. He's abducted by unknown persons, for no known reason, and imprisoned for fifteen years before being mysteriously and unexpectedly released, after being framed for his wife's murder. Once out he's taken in by a kind female sushi chef, and given five days, by unknown persons, to discover why he was held and why he was released. This sounds spoilery, but it all takes place in the first 20 or so minutes, leaving 100 more for the plot to unfold. And unfold it does, in ways you can hardly believe, even as you witness them.
To the scores, which are
explained here.
Oldboy, 2003
Script/Story: 8
Characters: 7
Action: 7
Combat Realism: 7
Eye Candy: 4
Fun Factor: 7
Replayability: 7
Overall: 9.5
I don't have scores for directing, or originality, or tension, but if I did Oldboy would get 9s or 10s in all of them. Those scores and other intangibles are implied and factored into the overall score, which is why it's higher than any of the individual category scores. The whole is greater than the sum, or the average, of the parts.
If I were to nitpick it would be at the plot, which is rather a house of cards, in retrospect. Too many coincidences, too many things working out perfectly (as they must) to advance events, too much foresight and calculated evil for anyone to realistically (I hope) possess. It's an outrageously over the top story, filmed in intense, lurid, stylistic fashion, and if you caught 10 minutes at some random point, you'd probably think it was ridiculous. Watching the whole thing in one sitting though, it sucks you in and builds and builds, to an outrageous, almost unbelievable payoff.
Oldboy was so great (which is different than "good" or "enjoyable" if you see my meaning) that after we watched it we got right on our computers to read more about it. Malaya hit IMDB for info about the other films in Chan Woo Park's revenge trilogy, and I went to Rotten Tomatoes to see what the critics said, and to see what the hell critics said if they didn't like Oldboy.
I could imagine someone not
liking Old Boy, since some critics are single-issue types, and it's a very, very intense film. It's Violent, it's cruel and despairing at times, it deals with intensely adult themes, and it's downright emotionally-wrenching. It's a very un-soothing film, and as I said, I can easily imagine someone not liking it. I wouldn't recommend the film to my mom or dad, for instance.
But what professional film critic could see Oldboy and not admire it for the sheer rush of a cinematic experience it provides? Compared to 99% of Hollywood productions, Oldboy is a piranha in a tank of goldfish; an electric-blue, neon-glowing, two-headed piranha. I absolutely loved a great deal of the film, and even though there were some incredible implausibilities and plot holes, they were so easily ignored in the giddy sugar rush of excitement and gore and raw power that it seems pedantic to belabor them. Like stepping off the best roller coaster on earth and complaining about the color of the paint on some of the support beams.
At any rate, Oldboy has
113 reviews on RT, and 99 of them are positive, which works out to 81% good, or more to the point, 19% clueless, gutless pussies who should find another line of work. I didn't feel compelled to read every review, but most of the bad reviewers seem to have been simply overwhelmed by the film. They think it's too stylish, or too lurid, or that it's trying too hard, or that it's too violent and gruesome, or that the plot mechanisms are too elaborate. As I said, if you can handle an intense film, you will absolutely devour this one, Pulp Fiction style. If not, it'll probably be too much for you and your defense mechanisms will find it silly, or gross, or you'll refuse to engage in the suspension of disbelief the elaborate and impossibly over-the-top revenge plot requires.
Anyway, I loved it and Malaya loved it, and we're definitely going to check out the other recent films by Chan Woo Park.
Labels: movie review
