In 2003, Chan-wook Park, the brilliant movie director who hails from South Korea, graced international movie fans with the incredible Oldboy. The movie told a captivating, disturbing tale of imprisonment and revenge, among other things. Aside from that, Oldboy also gave action movie fans one of the best fight scenes ever filmed. I am, of course, talking about the corridor fight scene. It gained appreciation from movie fans because of the famous continuous shot the fight was filmed with:
Anyway, as with many great foreign movies, Oldboy was thrown into the Hollywood remake machine. However, taking a cue from The Departed, which is a remake of the Hong Kong movie Infernal Affairs, those who acquired the rights to Oldboy were at least thoughtful enough to attach a quality director, Spike Lee, and a solid cast that features Josh Brolin, Sharlto Copley (of A-Team and District 9 fame), and Samuel L. Jackson.
It also features an R rating–or, well, it looks like it will when it’s released–which indicates at least some attempt is being made to stick to the decidedly adult storyline.
While fans of the original may still be dubious about this, or any remake, there is some level of solace with the idea of embracing the story instead of dumbing it down. To help further sway fans who may stay away from the remake, a well produced red-band trailer hit the web, and while it hasn’t completely swayed this particular fan, it does look like Spike Lee is doing some interesting things with his version of Oldboy. Take a look for yourself, although, keep in mind the red-band means the trailer isn’t safe for work:
Seeing how the director hasn’t shied away from taking stylistic approaches to his previous movies, I’m incredibly curious to see how he approaches the famed fight scene. Quick shots of the scene are in the trailer, and it’s hard not wonder how Lee is going to present it.
Don’t be surprised if it features a dolly shot somewhere during Josh Brolin’s rampage:
The Oldboy remake is scheduled to hit theaters on October 25. Oh, and in case you missed it, a non-teaser poster was released the other day:
Click to enlarge it.