Although most movie remakes are nowhere near as fantastic as the original, we all still want to give them a chance to prove us wrong. Whether it is to see if the storyline was kept the same or if the remake was a fresh interpretation. Sadly, the 2013 version of Spike Lee’s Oldboy was not one that made the cut.
- Image from Oldboy (2013)
The original Korean made 2003 Oldboy was a gripping tale of mystery, anger, and revenge with a horrifying twist that would make anyone cringe. It was directed by Chan Wook-Park (who also did the screenplay). One of the most respected things about foreign films is that they tend to be very graphic and rarely hold back. It keeps them extremely raw and artistic while setting them apart from most of the mainstream American movies.
***Please note: this movie review summary contains major spoilers!***
The 2013 remake of Oldboy is directed by Spike Lee and the screenplay was written by Mark Protosevich. Compared to the original, there is a somewhat similar storyline with a variation on the twist itself. It begins with a 20 something year old alcoholic named Joe Doucett (played by Josh Brolin) who seems to care less about anything but himself. He has an ex wife that he dislikes and a 3 year old daughter he never sees. After being drunk and refused more liquor at his friend Chucky’s bar (Chucky is played by Michael Imperioli) he stumbles onto the sidewalk where he sees an Asian woman with a yellow umbrella. He stares into her eyes and then they both vanish. Once he awakes he realizes he has been mysteriously taken to what appears to be a hotel room. After further investigation, you see that this is a makeshift cell and he has been kidnapped. As part of the daily routine, he is given the same exact Chinese dumplings to eat. There are no windows and no one has any communication or contact with him. You have no idea why he is there or who took him.
- Image from Oldboy (2013)
There is a television inside the room and as he flips through various channels he stops on a newscast about his ex wife. The program explains that his ex wife has been murdered and Joe is the prime suspect. In an earlier scene, the kidnappers took his DNA and you now see it was to frame him for her death. Throughout the program, he also sees that his 3 year old daughter Mia has been adopted by another family. He continues to see various reports about his daughter and how well she is doing. Seeing this makes him happy and he decides to become a better man. He stops drinking in the cell (they used to bring him vodka everyday) and he starts to work out and become fit. He also keeps clues about the Chinese food he keeps receiving. He keeps a piece of the food carton that shows the name “dragon”. As the years continue to pass he starts to carve away at the shower tiling and eventually breaks through the wall to escape. After he does this, the kidnappers gas him to knock him out so he can’t leave.
The next day he wakes up in a Louis Vuitton trunk in the middle of a park – he is clean shaven and in a very nice suit. It is now 20 years later. He has a cell phone as well as quite a few one hundred dollar bills in a wallet. Once out of the trunk he sees the same Asian woman with the yellow umbrella from 20 years ago so he decides to follow her. She yells at him to get away, so some football players come over to protect her. They hit Joe and he basically beats the crap out of all them on his own with no weapon. While continuing to search for this woman he sees a man on a line at a medical clinic holding the same yellow umbrella. This is where he meets Marie Sebastian (played by Elizabeth Olsen). She is a nurse who tries to help him (he is bleeding from the fight,) but he refuses any medical attention. She then gives him her card and says to call if he needs anything. After leaving her, he goes back to his friend Chucky’s bar to explain what has happened to him. They make a list of all the possible “suspects” that would have done this to him. They research the entire list and find that none of them are involved.
After a few more scenes, the cell phone he was given finally goes off while they are in Chucky’s bar. The person hangs up so Joe calls the number back. The phone rings in the same location they are all sitting in and to their surprise the Asian woman as well as a new character named Adrian (played by Sharlto Copley) are in the bar waiting for Joe. Joe now realizes that this is the man who captured him – but why? Adrian tells Joe that he has his daughter Mia and that in order to save Mia’s life he must figure out who he is and why he did this to him. If he can’t – he will kill Mia. If he does, he will do the following – hand over Mia, give him a case filled with diamonds, write the confession that he actually killed his ex-wife and (to top it all off) he will shoot himself in the head. What a guy!
Joe and Marie begin to do research on this mysterious man for clues. The one thing they start with, is the search at the nearby Chinese restaurants with the name “Dragon” (same as the carton in his cell). He eats the dumplings at each restaurant to try and figure out which one is delivering to the location he was held captive in. After he figures out which restaurant it is, he follows the man who comes to pick up a very large food order. Once at the building, he kills everyone until he gets to the man in charge named Chaney (played by Samuel L. Jackson). He beings to torture Chaney until he gives up the identity of the man who captured him but Chaney refuses. Joe then gets into 2 over the top and extremely unconvincing fight scenes where he takes out over 15 men with only a hammer. He is then stabbed in the back by one of the men and then knocked out. Someone from the building then drops Joe off in front of Chucky’s bar and drives away. With Joe severely wounded, Chucky is forced to call Marie for medical help. After he is patched up, their search continues. Although I didn’t see the chemistry between the characters, they apparently did have something going on as they started kissing and of course had sex. Adrian (who somehow placed a recording device in the cabin that they were in) sees them and enjoys watching.
After more investigating, Joe and Marie figure out that Adrian is the brother of one of Joe’s fellow high school classmates. He recalls the last time he saw her – she was having sex with an older man in the green house behind their high school. Joe told half the school about it and everyone called her a whore and laughed at her. After looking further into it they find that the man she was having sex with was her own father – which was also Adrian’s father. After being outed and humiliated, their father killed his daughter (Adrian’s sister), his wife (Adrian’s mother), shot Adrian and then killed himself. Adrian was the only survivor.
After the discovery, Adrian and Joe meet to discuss his findings. Joe then has a short fight with the Asian woman and kills her by slicing her throat. After more back and forth, Adrian wants to know why Joe never asked the most important question? “Why did Adrian wait so long to release him”? He takes him downstairs to where Mia is. He then introduces this woman who we thought was Mia as “Ashley” and says this is not his real daughter. Joe is baffled and doesn’t understand what is going on. After continuing to walk through the house, he sees what appears to be the news stage where all the stories on his daughter were shown. It was all lies – there was no actual news footage on the real Mia – it was all a stage and actors. Joe was the only viewer of this newscast the entire time he was held captive. Adrian asks him again.. “Why did I keep you for all these years”?
Joe cannot figure this part out. Adrian explains it was so he would be able to show Joe the amazing love that was taken away from Adrian and his sister. He creepily states that the love his father had for him and his sister was beautiful and pure and that Joe destroyed that. A slide-show then begins to play where you see that Marie is actually Mia and you now come to the realization that Joe has had sex with his own daughter. Adrian begins to dial Marie to tell her what they have done and Joe begs Adrian not to. Adrian hangs up the phone and he keeps his promise by giving him the diamonds and letter and then killing himself.
After this, Joe sends Marie most of the diamonds and writes her a letter telling her to forget about him and start a new and better life for herself.
The movie ends with Joe giving Chaney (Samuel L. Jackson) the remaining diamonds to continue to hold him captive in the same cell that he was in for 20 years. The movie ends with Joe smiling at the camera while in his cell.
OK, so here are some thoughts on this remake. The story line seemed weak, sloppy, and lacked the appropriate bite to truly shock you with the plot twist. The acting was subpar. Adrian’s character was overly creepy and just too obscure to make him a believable villain. The fight scenes between Joe and the men were too far-fetched and the main characters did not have the proper chemistry to make the necessary “passion” believable.
I highly recommend watching the original and skipping the remake.
The original 2003 Oldboy can be seen on Netflix streaming and the 2013 Oldboy remake is in theaters now.
Cryptic rock give the 2013 Oldboy remake – 2 out of 5 stars.
Written by Mindy Ganz
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