Oldboy is a remake. Leave it at that and go into it with nothing more than that. Open it to the movie itself.
This movie is by no means a masterpiece, however having watched a great deal many bad movies, B movies, extremely low budget movies, I fail to see what everyone else is complaining about.
Our story is about a man named Joe, who we learn fairly quickly in the first few moments is rather a bit of an asshole. He has an ex wife, won't attend his daughters third birthday for the very reason she is only three and work is all important, and then when he lands a big deal thanks to the wife of the man who gave it to him....he hits on said wife.
And not subtly either. Needless to say, this does not end well and he proceeds to drink himself into a stupor.
The next day, he awakens in what I personally consider a rather tortuous room...it's made to look like a cheap motel room from the early 90's (which the movie starts in) but Joe soon realizes is a prison. The mental trauma of being stuck in what appears to be a normal room but you know is not and you can't get out, well....
The first third of the movie then shows Joe over the next twenty years of his life and finding out he is framed outside those walls for the murder of his wife. Seeing on the news in a television in his room that his daughter was adopted, he vows to change himself and escape one day.
The rest of the movie deals with his search for answers as to why he was imprisoned, who put him there, and to get his revenge and clear his name. It sounds like a typical American who-dunnit movie, however as things are revealed, it becomes clear there is a much darker motive to his capture.
For one, the fact he was willingly released the day he tries to escape.
Everything that occurs is not exactly spellbinding, and it certainly takes its time to get rolling. It's not a movie everyone will be captured by intellectually by any means, and any action buffs seeing this will be disappointed after the extremely well done and brutal hallway fight scene.
However...everything in this movie happens for a reason, with a purpose, even if it doesn't always make sense with the random cuts and jumps in time (very likely due to the heavy editing the studios did to trim the original time down) In the end, regardless, you will be shocked, likely horrified, and almost certainly enthralled and remembering back to everything you just saw in the last forty minutes with a completely different view.
And you will likely either love the ending, or if you're extremely jaded, find it just another in a long series of twists.
I would implore anyone with any genuine interest in this movie, however, to give it a chance and watch it. Expect nothing, and simply let yourself into the world it shows you.
Pleasantly surprised does not begin to say how much I loved the movie.
And I'm a huge fan of the original.
This movie is by no means a masterpiece, however having watched a great deal many bad movies, B movies, extremely low budget movies, I fail to see what everyone else is complaining about.
Our story is about a man named Joe, who we learn fairly quickly in the first few moments is rather a bit of an asshole. He has an ex wife, won't attend his daughters third birthday for the very reason she is only three and work is all important, and then when he lands a big deal thanks to the wife of the man who gave it to him....he hits on said wife.
And not subtly either. Needless to say, this does not end well and he proceeds to drink himself into a stupor.
The next day, he awakens in what I personally consider a rather tortuous room...it's made to look like a cheap motel room from the early 90's (which the movie starts in) but Joe soon realizes is a prison. The mental trauma of being stuck in what appears to be a normal room but you know is not and you can't get out, well....
The first third of the movie then shows Joe over the next twenty years of his life and finding out he is framed outside those walls for the murder of his wife. Seeing on the news in a television in his room that his daughter was adopted, he vows to change himself and escape one day.
The rest of the movie deals with his search for answers as to why he was imprisoned, who put him there, and to get his revenge and clear his name. It sounds like a typical American who-dunnit movie, however as things are revealed, it becomes clear there is a much darker motive to his capture.
For one, the fact he was willingly released the day he tries to escape.
Everything that occurs is not exactly spellbinding, and it certainly takes its time to get rolling. It's not a movie everyone will be captured by intellectually by any means, and any action buffs seeing this will be disappointed after the extremely well done and brutal hallway fight scene.
However...everything in this movie happens for a reason, with a purpose, even if it doesn't always make sense with the random cuts and jumps in time (very likely due to the heavy editing the studios did to trim the original time down) In the end, regardless, you will be shocked, likely horrified, and almost certainly enthralled and remembering back to everything you just saw in the last forty minutes with a completely different view.
And you will likely either love the ending, or if you're extremely jaded, find it just another in a long series of twists.
I would implore anyone with any genuine interest in this movie, however, to give it a chance and watch it. Expect nothing, and simply let yourself into the world it shows you.
Pleasantly surprised does not begin to say how much I loved the movie.
And I'm a huge fan of the original.