Lee has always been one to walk to the beat of his own drum, and his version
of Oldboy stands on its own while matching the intensity of the
original. Breaking out all of his usual camera tricks, including his gliding
"dolly shot", Lee adds a palpable grit to the sordid Kafka-esque
mystery, a reminder that he is one of the great visual directors working today.
It's to our benefit that he refrained from making this a shot-by-shot remake
like so many others would have done to avoid controversy.Not a straight retelling of Chan-Wook's film, nor a direct adaptation of Garon Tsuchiya's manga, Mark Protosevich's script maintains the dizzying aspects while presenting a uniquely American protagonist. Josh Brolin is Joe Doucett, a shady businessman, alcoholic, and narcissist who blows a major deal by hitting on his client's sexy wife. To dull the pain of his major screw-up, he indulges in a wild night of binge drinking, only to wake up the next day in a strange hotel room. He soon comes to realize that it's actually a prison cell, one where he only has a television for company and a daily meal of steamed dumplings. He has no idea who his captors are, how long he'll be held, or why he was kidnapped. Not knowing begins to drive him insane, and it only gets worse when he sees on the TV that his ex-wife has been murdered, and he is the only suspect. Solace and anguish make for a powerful mixture as Joe realizes his daughter escaped unharmed, and he sees her grow up on screen over the course of twenty agonizing years.
Brolin is a tougher, rough 'n tumble actor than Choi Min-Sik, the South
Korean actor who played the protagonist in the prior film. Min-Sik's
interpretation was more sympathetic, while Brolin's is grim and a little
detached from reality. But as Joe gradually descends into madness, Brolin
captures the true depths of his despair, and then his resolve to turn things
around for the sake of his daughter....and sweet sweet revenge. Bulking up and
refraining from alcohol, Joe finds himself suddenly released, left in a trunk
in a field, and sets off for vengeance. Who should he aim his righteous anger at,
though? That's just one of a myriad of puzzling mysteries at the heart of
Oldboy, mysteries best left unspoiled.
The expertly stylized violence remains just as brutal as ever, and those
with a squeamish side may want to go in on an empty stomach. Samuel L. Jackson,
all bad hair and flashy outfits, plays a bad guy who ends up on the business
end of Brolin's box cutter, while the famous hammer brawl is shot differently
but is as ludicrously over-the-top as the original. Lee has truly embraced the
story's more outlandish aspects and given the film a colorful, offbeat flourish
to match. That extends to the casting of Sharlto Copley as Adrian Pryce, a
mysterious figure whose spiffy dress and strangely effeminate cadence mark him
as someone to be mocked, not feared. Chan-Wook's villain was a cold and fairly
normal businessman, which made him more real and thus more terrifying.
Elizabeth Olsen has one of the film's toughest roles as Marie, a warm-hearted
but troubled woman who comes to help Joe out in his cause. The less said about
her the better, but the nuance she brings to the character is crucial to
keeping the story's grand reveal intact.
The film hits on most of the key points those familiar would come to expect,
while also making a few key changes, some working better than others. The
beginning is almost entirely new, and the decision to take us deeper into Joe's
personality is a smart one, even if presenting him as a total jerk is curious.
Learning about his background will pay dividends later, but making him look
like a bad guy takes away from the impact of his vengeful transformation. And
that conclusion, the one that shocked (and continues to shock) so many years
ago is more demented and depraved, but telegraphed in a way it wasn't before.
This is the unfortunate side effect of a story that takes everything to the
extreme, that it forces us to imagine the most bizarre twist imaginable. And
this film, if anything at all, is bizarre.Fans of Spike Lee may be taken aback by him doing a movie like this, he hasn't been this bold and enthused for a project in a long time, and it's obvious in the energy he brings to every frame. The greatest twist ending of all is that Lee has delivered an Oldboy fans and newcomers can appreciate.
Trav's Tip: The other two chapters of the Vengeance Trilogy are also getting American remakes. Lady Vengeance is to star Charlize Theron, while Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance has Paradise Now director, Hany Abu-Assad.
