New...Oldboy disappoints

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So much of Oldboy works so well that it's a huge disappointment when the movie loses its nerve in the climax, opting for a radically different and less subversive ending than the original.

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This thing in particular is pretty damn disappointing.

I'm one of those who thought that this movie didn't need to be remade. On a possible positive side, this movie is probably being judged overly harshly because of how great the original is.

frick

Mainstream American audiences can't handle the original ending. Its no surprise they changed it.

I'm going to assume that the new Oldboy features:

- A man who was held prisoner for a long time
- A scene where guys are whipped by a hammer

Nothing else in the movie will be similar to the old one.

quote:

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Nothing else in the movie will be similar to the old one.

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Seeing it tomorrow anyway. So I'll give my thoughts on it.

I told the wife what this movie was about and the crazy ending and told her "I figured I would tell you what it was cause they won't show it here". I knew this shite would happen

Actually, the main twist is intact, and many critics allude to Lee upping the ante in terms of the I word. The critic quoted is most likely referring to the protagonist's ultimate response to the twist, which from what I gather could be seen as less subversive. But the sticky stuff is present.

The critical community has mostly attacked Lee for his pedestrian, workmanlike restaging of the beats from the original; shying from none of the edgier elements, but also adding nothing particularly new, inspired, or personal to justify its existence. Basically Lee in director-for-hire mode. As mentioned, there have been rumblings about a longer cut before studio interference - and the credits read A Spike Lee Film as opposed to Joint, which has been speculated to reflect Lee's unhappiness with the situation. I'm disappointed by what I'm hearing but look forward to checking it out anyway.