I’ve had this film sitting on my shelf for several months now, and for some odd reason I only got around to watching it this past weekend. Oldboy director Chanwook Park takes the term “vengeance” to a entirely new level with his unique blend of dark thought provoking storytelling mixed with gritty scenes and extreme violence.

The strength of Oldboy was definitely its execution and film editing. The storyline was extremely complex yet found a way to weave itself into a coherent and surprising conclusion by the film’s end. There were also several excellent fight scenes with the most notable involving our lead protagonist taking on a gang of thugs in a single corridor with nothing more than a conventional hammer.

I also thought the acting and character development in the film was top notch. Particularly the performance of Min-sik Choi. Choi plays lead character Dae-su Oh, a Korean businessman, husband and father who is kidnapped and locked up in a cell without explanation for fifteen years. As the film progresses we see his character turn anguish into anger, and vengeance into his life’s mission.

I thought Oldboy had an extremely intelligent and edgy script, which many people simply dismissed due to its graphic nature and references to situations many deem immoral. However, from the standpoint of an avid movie fan like myself, it definitely a film worth watching. If your very sensitive with issues involving rape, torture, and gore I suggest you skip this film. If your a huge fan of director Quentin Tarantino’s films, I’m almost certain you’ll enjoy this flick.

Synopsis:

A man is inexplicably kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years and his wife is brutally murdered. On his release, he is given a wallet full of money and a mobile phone. A stranger calls and asks him to try and figure out why he was imprisoned. A girl appears and promises to help him solve the enigma and seek vengeance for his cruel fate.

As the search progresses, the man finally comes face to face with his kidnapper, who proposes a game: if the man discovers the reason for his imprisonment, his kidnapper will kill himself. If not, then the girl will be killed. He has only five days to unravel the mystery.