Who is the Audience for This Movie?

People who like movies about revenge.

What I Liked About This Movie

The first thing that grabbed me when watching this movie was the high contrast mildly saturated cinematography. Every scene looks like a dream (or nightmare) and after thinking about what prevails throughout the story it makes perfect sense that this artistic style was chosen. Backing up the visual style are many beautifully composed shots.

One scene in particular contains a tracking shot in which the protagonist must fight his way through a hallway of guys with only a hammer. Unlike many movies where the hero is invincible he actually gets beat up fairly badly as he fights his way through the hallway. It’s all done in one take and it is quite captivating. For those who are queasy there is quite a bit of realistically graphic violence so you have been warned.

Since this a revenge movie by movie standards you must have a big twist. The twist in Oldboy will flat out knock you on your ass. After it is over the movies conclusion continues the shocking trend set by the reveal and ends in a way that is both disturbing and poetic at the same time.

What Didn’t Work For Me

Surprisingly I do not have much too many complaints about Oldboy. Near the beginning there is a small sub plot involving ants that is only briefly touched upon and kind of awkward given the context of the story. Near the end the director really wants the big twist to sink in. The big reveal begins to drag a bit killing some of the momentum.

Should You Watch This Movie?

If you cannot stomach the violence the movie does have a big payoff.

My Rating (Out of 13)