Oldboy (4 Stars)

People who bought a season ticket to see every film in this year's Fantasy Film Festival received four gifts:

1. A t-shirt with the 2019 Fantasy Film Festival logo. It looks pretty cool.

2. A cloth carrier bag. It's not very practical. It's too small, and the straps are too long.

3. An energy drink, 28 Black Orange-Ginger. It tastes better than most energy drinks.

4. A special edition Blu-ray steelbook of "Oldboy". That's super-cool. I already owned the film on DVD, but I'm glad about the upgrade.

The story is an enthralling mystery. A Korean man called Oh Dae-su is locked up in solitary confinement for 15 years, though with relative luxury. Food and drink is delivered every day, and his room is periodically cleaned at night while he's asleep. In 2003 he's released without warning. He wakes up on the rooftop of a high building. He can't go back to his old life because he was framed for the murder of his wife while he was imprisoned. He saw it on the television news.

A stranger gives him a mobile phone and a wallet containing a large amount of money. Someone rings him and taunts him. He says that Oh Dae-su has five days to discover the reason for his imprisonment. If he fails, he'll be killed.

Oh Dae-su realises that he was safe in the prison, but now his life is in danger.

Overall this is an excellent film, but I think that it falls apart at the end. Oh Dae-su overreacts after his final meeting with the man who imprisoned him. Maybe it was his insanity after living alone for so long. That's the only way I can excuse it.

Success Rate:  + 3.0

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