Movie Review: Oldboy (2003)

Oldboy is a wholly enthralling tragic thriller. It grips you right away with its unique premise, and it culminates in a cathartic conclusion that would make Aristotle proud.

Choi Min-sik gives a powerhouse performance as Oh Dae-su, a man who had been imprisoned for 15 years, who once let go, wants nothing more than revenge.

When he’s in prison, he spends all his time working out and training for his eventual fights. He’s at first a little sloppy, but he’s also pretty well trained when he actually gets around to fighting people.

While this movie has a very memorable action scene done in one take, this movie is really about the emotions of the main character. It’s incredibly violent, sure, but that seems secondary to the character’s emotional journey, which is very well handled.

I don’t want to give anything more away, because the ending really caught me off guard when I first saw this. It’s a fascinating movie, and a wildly entertaining revenge thriller.

Rating: 8/10