Mild-mannered Korean shop owner Park Chan-Wook made the cult classic revenge movie Oldboy back in 2003, and ten years later, he turns his back for two seconds and Spike Lee comes along and steals it. Does it ever end? Okay, I kid, Oldboy was actually based on a Japanese manga to begin with, and Spike Lee’s new take on it stars Josh Brolin in the lead, with supporting roles played by Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, and Michael Imperioli, who can hopefully stop calling my brand of tequila a queer long enough to pull this off.
Anyway, I’m biased because I’ve always thought Spike Lee was a bit of a dingleberry, though he’s not a terrible filmmaker. Just… shall we say… a bit heavy handed. Pretty much the black Oliver Stone in every way that I can think of. After the jump, the slightly NSFW red-band trailer.
So what do you think? You hate it? I don’t think it looks terrible. I just hope things work out between Josh Brolin and that Elizabeth Olsen chick, she seems nice.
OLDBOY is a provocative, visceral thriller that follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is abruptly kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment. Co-starring Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley, OLDBOY was directed by Spike Lee, from a script by Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, The Cell, Thor). The film was produced by Roy Lee, Doug Davison and Nathan Kahane.
Opens October 25th.