Critic Reviews
Oldboy (2003) Rank 3 Reviews
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based on (191) reviews
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MovieMaze (Daniel Licha)
DVD Review e-zine
MovieWeb (Julian Roman)
After two years of international release, Park Chan-Wook’s “Oldboy” finally makes its way to American theaters. The film takes place in Seoul, South Korea and begins with Oh Dae Su (Choi Min-Sik) being disorderly at a police station. He’s been ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at MovieWeb (Julian Roman)
Jigsaw Lounge (Neil Young)
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Oldboy , I was reminded of a line of dialogue in one of the opening scenes of David Fincher's Seven (1995), a film with which Oldboy shares more than a few similarities, in both its visual use of bruised colors and sharp contrasts and its despondent, ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
This 2003 revenger from Korean upstart Chan-wook Park (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) is a multilayered, intensely performed, and viscerally visual tour de force – like a lavish birthday cake with a nail bomb hidden inside that you can’t stop devouring, ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Wolfpack Productions (Sujit 'Chief' Chawla)
ReelTalk Movie Reviews (Jeffrey Chen)
The film likes itself. It likes its mysterious plot, it likes the black humor it operates in, and it likes being goofy, lurid and sick. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at ReelTalk Movie Reviews (Jeffrey Chen)
Netflix (James Rocchi)
Haunting, horrifying Korean psycho-drama action film will make you sweat -- and works as the violence-flick equivalent of opera. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Netflix (James Rocchi)
Arizona Republic (Kerry Lengel)
Combining the sinister suspense of Alfred Hitchcock with the unrepentant violence of Quentin Tarantino, South Korean director Park Chan-wook delivers a revenge tale as shocking as it is thought-provoking. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Arizona Republic (Kerry Lengel)
Empire Magazine (--)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)
Uruguay Total (Enrique Buchichio)
Definitivamente no para todos los gustos, esta violenta y asombrosa película coreana promete convertirse en una de las verdaderas sorpresas del año. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Uruguay Total (Enrique Buchichio)
Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
Kinetic and energetic, funny and more than a little insane, the film ingeniously gets us into the mind of its hero. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
filmcritic.com (David Thomas)
What can you say about a movie that has not one, not two, but three scenes of improvised oral surgery? ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at filmcritic.com (David Thomas)
Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
It says something when you come out of a film as weird and fantastical as Oldboy and feel that you've experienced something truly authentic. I just don't know what. I can't think of anything to compare it to. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
DVD Review e-zine
Fulvue Drive-in
There is nothing that extremely revolutionary about 2003’s Oldboy, directed by Chan-wook Park, but somehow this film has been well received by American viewing audiences and the film has received some interesting DVD releases outside the U.S. One of ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Fulvue Drive-in
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
The acting is solid (despite Kang Hye-jeong's tendency to whine) and Park's direction is stylish without going over-the-top. Occasional flaws are evident in his approach (such as during the crowded fight scene I mentioned above), but Oldboy ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
In Korean with subtitlesOldboy could be considered a mystery. Or a bloody revenge picture. Or a twisted romance. Or a tale of extreme karma. Regardless of how you look at Oldboy, it's unlike anything you are likely to have seen before. Director Park Chan- ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Tail Slate (Michael Sheridan)
By the end of Oldboy, you’ll undoubtedly be floored by the depths the characters sink to. Chan-wook Park ultimately does a terrific job at the helm, even if the film gets overly stylized from time to time. It is an effective thriller with ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Tail Slate (Michael Sheridan)
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
The hero of this Kafkaesque nightmare could be anybody who feels abused, raging against fate or God and discovering only absurdity and more horror. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Carefully crafted chaos cloaked in gloriously gruesome color. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Doncinema.com (Flavio J. Arosemena)
Este no es un filme para todo el mundo. Lo cual no es necesariamente algo malo. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Doncinema.com (Flavio J. Arosemena)
San Francisco Chronicle (Walter V. Addiego)
Deserves to be seen because of its relentless energy, the acting by Choi Min-sik that strikes a genuinely tragic note amid the mayhem and cartoonish excess, and the director's clear conviction that this wild story will resonate. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Walter V. Addiego)
Boston Globe
By the time the hero sits down in a sushi bar to eat a live, wriggling squid, you'll have probably figured out whether ''Oldboy" is or isn't for you. On the strength of this 2003 film and the previous year's ''Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance," fans of ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Boston Globe
Bullz-Eye.com
Although the fight sequences in “Oldboy” are a lot rawer to the sophisticated moviegoer, the entire film follows in the same footsteps as Tarantino’s own revenge-drama, so it’s no surprise that the Asian cinema fanboy led the jury at this ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Bullz-Eye.com
Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)
The director's Fincher-esque style may finally beat out intellectual substance, but it's a fair fight, grounded in the existential horror of essential emotional truths. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Groucho Reviews (Peter Canavese)
EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
Oldboy is so violoen, bloodthirsty and preposterously plotted its violence it’s not likely to gain the Korean director Park Chanwook many new fans. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
While one might argue that it loses credibility and impact as it reaches further along the ledge of outrageous, tummy churning plot developments, there's no denying the turbulence it creates. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
Tail Slate (Michael Sheridan)
Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
A virulent, heart-shattering Korean revenge opus that deals out Promethean punishment to its central character. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
An explosively exciting psychosexual revenge drama from Korean powerhouse Park Chanwook that makes movies feel alive again. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Los Angeles Daily News (Bob Strauss)
It is not a pleasant movie, but it's close to a great one. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Los Angeles Daily News (Bob Strauss)
Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
A cat-and-mouse game as mysterious as it is sinister. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
The Movie Chicks
This is a tale of revenge on top of revenge. First, Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is framed for murdering his wife and is locked up in a cross between a personal prison and bad hotel for 15 years. You soon learn that Lee Woo-jin (Yoo Ji-tae) is ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at The Movie Chicks
Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Old Boy may be too extreme for its characters to truly engage you, but it is safe to say you will not be bored. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Contra Costa Times (Mary F. Pols)
I watched every frame attentively, and my mind was engaged with the story, but my heart was never in it. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Contra Costa Times (Mary F. Pols)
Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
So inventive its plot doesn't just twist but forms itself into a Mobius strip. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
A revenge film like none you have seen. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
Premiere Magazine (Glenn Kenny)
I don't think it's a stretch to say that once the picture gets into Hollywood's bloodstream, it could well prove to be as influential as John Woo's 1989 crime thriller, The Killer . ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Premiere Magazine (Glenn Kenny)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Laura Kelly)
Nightmarish Oldboy alternates between the captivating and the sickening. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Laura Kelly)
San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
Much of it is well made, capably acted and photographed. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
It is the second in a trilogy of vengeance films for Park, and has the jagged eloquence of an irrational impulse carried to an irresistible extreme. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
Entertainment Insiders (Rusty White)
Village Voice (Michael Atkinson)
Reel Film Reviews (David Nusair)
Planet Sick-Boy (Jon Popick)
Monsters At Play (John Kostka)
Comingsoon.net
allesfilm.com (Stefan Oswald)
Motion Picture Purgatory (Rick Trembles)
Sacramento News & Review (Jim Lane)
DVD Verdict (Joel Pearce)
filmdeculte.com (Nicolas Bardot)
Juicy Cerebellum (Alex Sandell)
The Boston Phoenix
DVD Town (William David Lee)
Box Office Prophets
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
digitallyOBSESSED.com (Rich Rosell)
Montreal Film Journal (Kevin N. Laforest)
filethirteen.com
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Trades (Max Braden)
The Sydney Morning Herald
Film Monthly (Del Harvey)
Teleport City Cinematics
Dallas Observer (Luke Y. Thompson)
LoveHKFilm.com (Calvin McMillin)
Nick Schager Film Project (Nick Schager)
Argues for its own pointlessness. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Nick Schager Film Project (Nick Schager)
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
The Guardian at Cannes 2004
The Spinning Image (Daniel Auty)
Political Film Society
Mediasearch, Australia
PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
Classic Horror
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
"That Park has talent in the technical department is a given; that he's a good filmmaker is debatable." ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Film Fortress (Colin Le Sueur)
Movie-Vault.com (Avril Carruthers)
CineScene.com (Howard Schumann)
artechock (Rüdiger Suchsland)
CineScene.com (Chris Dashiell)
MediaCircus (Anthony Leong)
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
cinEncanto (Pablo del Moral)
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
The Onion A.V. Club
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
In Film Australia
d+kaz. Intelligent Movie Reviews (Daniel Kasman)
This film was seen at the Film Comments Selects Series, February 2005
South Korean director Park Chan-wook is steadily defining himself as a genre-maker with a message, a man with the adroit technical skill and thematic ambitions to make war ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at d+kaz. Intelligent Movie Reviews (Daniel Kasman)
Entertainment Weekly
The brio and glee that Korean bad-boy filmmaker Park Chanwook brings to the gaudy psycho-shockeroo Oldboy is undeniable, even impressive. It's the perverse, hard-boiled ugliness of the story to which Park has applied his talents that alienates me. ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Entertainment Weekly
Movie Martyr (Jeremy Heilman)
Korean director Chan-wook Park follows up his Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance with Old Boy, the second in a projected trilogy about revenge. A leap in ambition, at least visually, over Sympathy, the new film is slightly less satisfying overall. Though it’s ...read the complete Oldboy movie review at Movie Martyr (Jeremy Heilman)
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