Take Five

By George Rose

September 9, 2009

Yeah, he's on a slow burn. Beware.

New at BOP:
Share & Save
Digg Button  
Print this column
Though Neve Campbell's Sydney isn't likely to be in the fourth entry (I hope a cameo is in place, maybe as the first death of the movie?), it should still be as good as the rest. Courteney Cox and David Arquette are perfect as the confused reporter and cop in love, constantly bickering and making eyes at each other as bodies pile up around them. The supporting cast usually isn't all that stellar but they aren't relevant enough to be anyway. The show is all about Campbell, Cox and Arquette. Though the removal of Campbell will scare (ha) away some viewers, I have faith original director Wes Craven will pull out something great. It will be filled with one-liners, horror references, rules of the genre and stars galore. After watching Scream 3, I was still $1,000 poorer but was in a noticeably better mood. I didn't even mind the crying children that were allowed to roam the terminals while I was quietly watching my movie. Well, okay, I did mind them. But at least I didn't want to kill them.

Overall Rating: B

Oldboy (2003)

After watching a comedic horror movie, I figured I'd keep my good mood rolling and watch a fun kung-fu action movie. My college roommate is big on all things Asian (his women, cartoons, movies, etc.), and while I am also a fan, I'm not the one who spent $5,000 to go to Japan for a two week trip after graduation. In any case, one of the non-burned DVDs that he loaned me was Oldboy so I assumed it would be one his favorites. Karate kicks, here I come!

Oh. My. God. Oldboy is NOT a kung-fu movie. I mean, there are a few fighting sequences, but the movie isn't anything you will ever see Jackie Chan or Jet Li star in. It was not the adrenaline kick I was looking for to keep me up for the 24 hours I have to sit in the airport. It was not fun or lighthearted. It was not inspirational. I do not have the urge to go out and kick some Delta flight attendant butt. I want to cry, continue hating the world, and never spread another rumor again (though rumors aren't my weak spot, if anything I talk about my personal truths too much).




Advertisement



For all that it isn't, the movie is amazing. It is stylistic, dark, gripping and affected me 100% from start to finish. The movie begins with the drunken Ho Dae-su being kidnapped and confined for 15 years of his life. One year into his capture, he learns he has been framed for the murder of his wife. His daughter's whereabouts are unknown, as are his captors and the reason he is being held in a small room with nothing but a bed and bathroom facilities. The first 15 minutes of the movie show his fall into insanity over 15 years, and while we will never truly understand what it's like to be that sort of crazy, you sure do start to feel uneasy.

After he is released, we follow Ho's journey as he tries to discover why he was captured and who would do such a thing. Over those 15 years, he made a list of everyone he has wronged, a list that took up the pages of several notebooks. Yet he is clueless, left with nothing but a new outfit and a cell phone, which his captor uses to lead him into the direction of truth. Then the mind games really begin. He meets a beautiful sushi chef named Mido and together they go on the search for his lost daughter and the man he aims to exact his revenge on. The initial plot seems simple but as it unfolds so do the layers of the truth, and that's where the film turns into a full on nightmare.


Continued:       1       2       3       4       5       6       7       8

     


 
 

Need to contact us? E-mail a Box Office Prophet.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
© 2024 Box Office Prophets, a division of One Of Us, Inc.