This is another instance where I watched the foreign version before the American remake. Sometimes us Americans have the ability to clean up a foreign film, take out all the fluff, and put in that great American film making sentimentality that makes our films so "great". I personally think that there was an improvement in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo film. However, an improvement in Oldboy there was not.
It's a strange film. And it translates well in Korean. It's weirdness flows steadily and smoothly throughout and, oddly enough, it makes sense. Here, in our newest version, it feels forced. If I hadn't seen the original, I'd have to be wondering how a guy who'd been locked away for 20 years can suddenly take on a hundred dudes all at once with only a hammer and win. In the original, the thought never crossed my mind. It wasn't a complete failure of a remake, it just didn't have the "it factor" that the original Korean version had.
C
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