Oldboy

Perhaps an American remake was not really necessary - why mess with a classic?  

In honor of Friday the 13th, here's an awesome movie vs. a non-awesome movie.

Oldboy is a South Korean, mystery action film - directed by Chan-wook Park in 2003.  It’s the second chapter in The Vengeance Trilogy - which consists of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.  The American remake was directed by Spike Lee and released in 2013.  (You know this already!)  

Oh Dae-su (Min-sik Choi)  isn’t quite your typical family man.  Although he is a husband and father, he is also notorious for being a drunken womanizer.  On the night of his daughter’s birthday, Oh Dae-su is kidnapped and imprisoned in what appears to be a hotel room.  He has no idea who his captors are, what his crime is, or how long he will be held captive.  With a television as his only contact to the outside world, Dae-su learns that his wife has been murdered and that he is suspected to be her killer.  He spends his time training his body and planning his escape.  Astonishingly, 15 long years later, Oh Dae-su wakes up on the top of a building - finally freed from his prison.  His mysterious captor (Ji-tae Yu) connects with him and says he has 5 days to figure out the villain’s identity and the reason for his own detainment.  The puzzle turns into a story of revenge, conspiracy, romance and violence.  

Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy is a smart, sadistic piece of art.  The story is complex, but laid out for you in such an interesting way.  You can tell that a lot of thought and hard work went into every shot.  It’s a delightful surprise for anyone who is tired of the predictable horror movies that hollywood spits out.  Which is sort of what the American remake was.  Spike Lee’s version was a huge flop in the theaters.. which was anticipated, seeing how huge a fan base the original has.  Lee had a lot to live up to.  It was almost like he imitated Park’s film without re-watching it.  But even he himself knows it’s bad, seeing as the film was designated as “A Film by Spike Lee”... instead of his traditional title “A Spike Lee Joint”.  Besides the crazy over acting - here are a few reasons why the remake was bad.  (There may be spoilers ahead - though most people know the end of this movie by now.)

The overall story is the same, but the way it’s told is a little different and a few small things were changed.  The original movie is complex and confusing at moments.  Whereas the remake pretty much paints everything out for you - as though you can’t figure it out on your own.  For example, the beginning of the Korean version opens with one short scene of Oh Dae-su in a police precinct.  The American opening is much longer, with several scenes drilling into our head that “Joe” (Josh Brolin) is a drunk, gross guy.  The ending is also a little different.  An interesting choice, Park leaves the ending up for interpretation - we’re not sure whether Oh Dae-su and Mi-do (Hye-jeong Kang) remain together.  Lee let’s us know that Joe and Marie (Elizabeth Olsen) never see each other again.  

I knew beforehand that Spike Lee was not doing a shot for shot remake of Oldboy.  I wondered if he would keep some of the more famous scenes, storylines and gags in there.  Originally, once freed, Oh Dae-su immediately goes to a sushi restaurant and orders a live octopus to eat (RIP to the four sea animals who gave their lives for this movie).  This scene doesn’t happen in Lee’s version.  Apparently they pay homage to the original, by showing an octopus in a tank or something - but I don’t even remember that.  Prepare to be disappointed - the famous one take fight scene in Woo-jin Lee’s prison was drastically changed as well.  Made to look like it was done in one shot - Joe now fights the mob in several rooms - which takes away the whole cramped and confined aspect of it.  Plus, the men Joe is fighting look ridiculous - they look totally choreographed, like they’re going to break out into a dance number at any moment.  

Just for fun, my girl Beth (who had never seen or even knew anything about the original) watched the remake with me.  Her response.. “I thought this was supposed to be good”.  So, there you have it.  The classic remains a classic, and the remake doesn’t make my list.  

At #8 - Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy.

The original can be found on Netflix Instant - and you can see the American remake with a Netflix DVD prescription.