Actors: Josh Brolin,
Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Imperioli
Rating: 6 out of 10, Why
are iconic films re-made and then everyone wonders why they fail so
miserably? I offer a case in point with
Spike Lee’s attempt to “Americanize” the Korean classic revenge flick. The film had Lee’s typical fascinating camera
angles and pace but the last thing Oldboy should be is safe. Lee obviously had to tone down the story to “appeal”
to a wider audience in the USA and that doomed what could have been a riot. The story of the extremely flawed hero held
in a private prison by a mysterious billionaire is transferred almost intact as
is the final “yechhh!” twist. Samuel L. delivers
his obligatory M.F.s as the jailor who’s caught up in Brolin’s post incarceration
rampage and Olsen is compelling as the victim.
Brolin just doesn’t sell his role as Oldboy which made the original so
awesome and could certainly use some Korean hammer lessons. Don’t bother with this – watch the original.
MVP: Olsen as the
bleeding heart nurse drawn into the maelstrom of revenge
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