Old Boy 2003 versus Old Boy 2013

A film review of two films, I will attempt to keep the spoilers to a minimum but be warned there will be a few. 2003 Old Boy Korean made cult hit 2013 Old Boy US Spike Lee film Both are based on source material which I am not familiar so when I read that 2013 is closer to the source material I don’t know if it is true or not. Let me start by saying, I am not opposed to remakes of films because they can retell a story in a way which will reach an audience who would not have bothered with the story at all. For example the films Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Let Me In are both Swedish Films which are very good however their remakes by the US are equally as good and retell the story in a way that is unique and still familiar to the original and in the case of Let Me In to the source material as well. I’m not familiar with The Girl with … source material. It is sometimes hard to see a film you like be remade and while I’m not a huge Spike Lee fan I don’t dislike all of his films and thought his version could be okay. He cast well known actors Josh Brolin and Samuel L. Jackson and amazing new comer Elizabeth Olson. So I had hope that this would be a good film despite the fact that a lot of the talk before the film was released was negative and condemned Lee for even attempting to remake such a good film. I will say that Brolin, Jackson and Olson all played their parts well but there was something lacking which I have to say is in the writing and the directing because all of the actors have the ability to really draw the audience into a story and believe they are the characters come to life. When that doesn’t happen with good actors it is the writing and the directing which have failed. The pace of the 2013 movies felt off and just did not have a believable flow that in part is due to my seeing the 2003 version but also in part in how Lee moves the story. Both films takes place over a 20 year period, which the 2003 version does a better job of conveying than the 2013 version. In 2003 it starts with little character introduction and then fills in that the protagonist isn’t a very nice guy. In the 2013 there is some build up that the protagonist is not a good guy and then pulls you in to the story. I prefer the 2003 version because it puts the audience in the same shoes as the protagonist. The character doesn’t understand what is happening to him or why and neither does the audience. The captivity portion of the film, the 2003 version really brings home how being isolated for 20 years from any meaningful human contact can extract a heavy toll on a person’s mental well being. I think Brolin is certainly able to deliver that kind of performance but he isn’t given the material or directed in a meaningful way to give that performance. So in the 2013 version after the 20 years there isn’t any sense that the character is really damaged by his imprisonment like there in the 2003 version. The release in 2013 is lack luster even when not compared to the 2003 version. This however it the one spot 2013 outshines 2003, which are dramatic fight scenes. The point of the first fight in the film shows the depth of what isolation can do to person and their restraint and interactions with others. However 2013 backs away from aspect of the film after the fight and in the 2003 version this is explored widely and in different settings and not always in fights. The introduction of the other characters is good in both films with the exception of the main antagonist in the 2013 film. In the 2013 version I wasn’t drawn in enough by the story to really form an opinion on the antagonist character but in the 2003 version I didn’t like the character before he is even on the screen. The 2003 version has a main fight scene which 2013 attempts to recreate. As before the 2013 version goes big the way US movies do in fight scenes which are okay if you haven’t seen 2003, but falls far short in comparison. It fails not in way of action but in the 2003 version there is the feel of the closeness of the combatants and the rage of the protagonist against his jailers and his lack of self preservation and he is an older guy now too. In 2013 the space used in the film was too big and didn’t give the same feel of tightness and close quarters combat and Brolin doesn’t seem to be as lost as his 2003 counterpart. Is it fair to compare the two scenes like this? I have to say yes because the 2013 could have done the fight a much different way but because Lee decides to try to recreate almost the same fight scene punch for punch I can say he failed to do justice to the scene as a part of the whole story but it is more action packed than 2003 version. As the story goes on 2013 drops the ball in the plot in a big way in that the protagonist isn’t even aware of why the antagonist hates him and doesn’t have that ah ha moment of oh that’s why this is happening that is there in 2003. Lee tells the same follow the clues type of story but there isn’t a personal connection between antagonist and protagonist like there is in the 2003 version. In 2003 the antagonist plan is revealed that he has made the protagonist unknowingly commit a greater social wrong and in the 2013 it is the same social wrong doing. Because of the lack of the personal connection and the reveal in the 2013 movie is telegraphed so far in advance of the reveal it is not a shock for the audience and again that may be that because I was familiar with the story line that I picked up on the foreshadowing. At the end I wasn’t sorry I had watched the 2013 version but it did not have the same gritty feel as the 2003 version. There was an emersion into the story in the 2003 version that the 2013 version never really captured. 2013 had better action sequences in that they are bigger, faster, and with bolder effects but that comes with a bigger budget and better effects departments but even that does not make up for the lack of grit and emotion through out the rest of film. If you haven’t seen the 2003 version the 2013 version may seem to be a better film overall and if you aren’t a fan of foreign films with smaller budgets you probably won’t like the 2003 version much at all. I prefer the 2003 version but that is just my opinion and maybe someday I’ll read the source material and have a completely different opinion. Well, that’s all for now, other stuff to follow most likely Happy Birthday if it’s your birthday and a very merry un birthday if it isn’t your birthday Thank you for reading, please subscribe, Have a great day and play nice in the neighborhood. Ciao, Invisible Don PS 3 Gamer Tag: invisible don PO Box 4425 Roanoke VA 24015