Oldboy (2013)

I wasn't quite sure what to make of Spike Lee's remake of Oldboy at first.  I've seen the South Korean original by Chan-wook Park many times and it's a favorite of mine.  Was I going to be able to watch this remake objectively?  I'm not the biggest fan of remakes either, but if there's one instance where it's not always a bad thing is when doing an American version of a foreign film.  You can address issues with the story that may be cultural or lost in translation.  Really the biggest problem with a remake of Oldboy is that it features some significant twists and disturbing story elements, so all the shock and surprise is gone for anyone that's seen the original.  I tried looking at the remake from the perspective of someone that's never seen it before, and I think that's where Oldboy does work on some level.

After a night of massive drinking, Joe Doucett (Josh Brolin) finds himself locked in what appears to be a hotel room.  He's unable to escape and there's no explanation as to why he's there.  After 20 years goes by, he's finally released still not knowing why.  Joe's out for vengeance and discovering why this was done to him.  He's befriended by a nurse, Marie (Elizabeth Olsen), who agrees to help him after learning his story.  Eventually a mysterious man (Sharlto Copley) reveals himself as his captor and issues Joe a challenge to discover his real identity and why he imprisoned and tortured him.  There's much more to the story than that, but I wanna try and keep this spoiler free for you folks out there that aren't familiar with it.

There are several changes between the two versions.  As you'd might suspect, many of these changes don't add much to the story, and some serve to hand hold the audience through the film a bit more. There's a little more lead up in this version where we see more of Joe's work and personal behavior prior to his imprisonment.  It's absolutely clear what kind of person he was.  I didn't think this change was really necessary (the scene of Joe's bender goes on way too long), but it did allow them to show more growth from Joe while imprisoned.  There's a change to the villain's back story which I felt made his motivation less sympathetic and much creepier.  A minor change that felt like it may have been cultural was that the length of Joe's imprisonment was increased from 15 to 20 years.  Again, without trying to spoil anything, this ages a certain character to make their profession and relationship to Joe a little more believable.  One change I did like was at the end.  The original version has an ambiguous, artsy ending, where this version has more of a full circle feel.  I liked the finality of it.

One of the more obvious differences that was likely done to appeal to US audiences is that it's extremely bloody and violent, even more so than the original.  The violence is even a little Tarantino-esque.  The infamous "hammer scene" was changed up to make it more action oriented.  In the original, it's more about the character becoming a force of nature, where in Spike Lee's version it felt more like an obligatory action scene because nobody had been killed in a while.  It's over-choreographed (in some cases badly) and changed to have multiple floors, making it feel more like a video game.

Overall, it's paced well though, and I never found myself bored with it despite knowing exactly how it was going to turn out.  While it doesn't have the same aesthetic as the original, Spike Lee put his own style on it and I thought there were some creative looking scenes.

Oldboy does feature some strong performances.  Josh Brolin is very good at portraying the mental transformation of Joe, and even goes through a physical transformation as he molded himself into a force of vengeance.  Elizabeth Olsen is also good as Marie and I though her performance and changes to her character was one of the distinct improvements over the original.  Again, some of these changes seemed to be cultural, which is likely why I feel that way.  Unfortunately, one performance that definitely was not an improvement was Sharlto Copley's choices as The Stranger.  He's way over-the-top in that bad, mustache-twirling, Bond villain way.  It seems he may have spent a little too much time at the Evil Villain Academy.  It's almost comical how over-the-top it is, but since this wasn't made to be a campy film, it really undermines the seriousness of it.  You can contrast that with Samuel L. Jackson's small role as Chaney, which was also a little over-the-top (is there a Jackson performance that isn't?), but had an element of fun to it.

If you haven't yet seen the original, or you're someone that doesn't have the patience for subtitles, then I think you'll enjoy Oldboy for the dark, twisted and violent thriller it is.  Fans of the original, however, will likely find that it doesn't add anything new to the story.  Much of the nuance and subtlety is gone, and Spike Lee's version is more of a telegraphed punch.  Even for existing fans, I think it's worth a rent just to compare the two, but it's nothing that anyone needs to rush out and see in the theater.

3 (out of 5) Death Stars

White House Down (2013)

Didn't I just see this film earlier this year?  Yes, the movie studios are at it again.  Seems like once a year (sometimes more), studios race out two similarly themed films, whether it's asteroids, volcanoes, or some various disaster.  This year is "White House under siege" films.

This entry in the category stars Channing Tatum as John Cale, a military veteran now working on a security detail for the Speaker of the House (Richard Jenkins).  He's the classic character where he's had issues with authority, and has never realized his full potential.  Wanting to make some changes and improve his life, he interviews for a Secret Service position at the White House, and takes his daughter Emily (Joey King) along.  Why would he take his daughter, you ask?  Well, they don't have a great relationship (shocker!), and it turns out she's a junkie for politics, so he figures the trip to the White House might begin to repair their relationship.

While on a tour of the White House, a group of mercenaries take over, killing all of the security forces and taking the remaining people as hostage.  One difference here is that this time the threat is a domestic force, rather than a foreign one.  It's not clear what they want, and even the mercenaries all seem to have different ideas of what the end goal is.

John is able to get loose in the White House and starts picking off some of the mercs.  He eventually finds President Sawyer (Jamie Foxx, yes you heard that right), and attempts to get him to safety.  John can't leave without his daughter though, so now you have the two of them running around simultaneously trying to escape, evade bad guys, and attempt to rescue John's daughter.

Olympus Has Fallen...er, um, I mean White House Down features just about every action movie cliche you could pull out of a hat.  At times the story has way too much going on, too many subplots, and wraps them up way too neatly and quickly at the end.  Every twist is telegraphed, sometimes simply by the people cast in the roles.  The second you see Jason Clarke as a someone that's there to install a new sound system in the White House theater, you know he's really up to no good.  You can't cast James Woods as the head of the President's Secret Service detail without that leading to something.  Don't worry, I'm not spoiling anything.  This all plays out very early in the film.

Here's the thing though: I actually had a lot of fun watching White House Down.  Once the action gets going, it doesn't let up for an instant.  There are great action scenes throughout the film.  Director Roland Emmerich seems to have a knack for high-octane action that's so silly you can't help but still have fun with it.  I'm not even sure if the overall silliness of some of these scenes is intentional or not.  My favorite scene of the film features a chase on the White House lawn, where it basically looks like several cars doing donuts.  It's ridiculous and hilarious, and everyone seemed to be having a good time with it.

The tone of White House Down is drastically different from Olympus Has Fallen.  Where Olympus Has Fallen has some very brutal violence, and overall more serous tone, White House Down seems to go out of it's way to throw one-liners at you at every opportunity.  Some work, some don't, and there's some pretty cringe worthy dialog at times.  I'll give writer James Vanderbilt credit for trying either way.

This film could have been edited better though.  Despite all the action, there are a few lulls here and there, and there's really no reason for this to be almost 2 hours and 20 minutes.

Channing Tatum manages to pull off another decent lead in an action film.  I was a little iffy on him as first as his character seemed to be a little too much of a screw up for his own good, but once the action gets going, he carries himself well.  Jamie Foxx is playing it pretty straight here, so he's not able to be as funny as we know he can be.  He might have been trying a little too hard to be presidential though.  The supporting cast is surprisingly strong, actually too strong for what they're given to do.  Maggie Gyllenhaal outclasses the material here, as well as Agent Broyles (Lance Reddick).  I really hope Reddick hasn't fallen into being type cast as "stern, military/law enforcement guy".  Lastly, I was really impressed with Joey King.  I've only seen her in a few small roles, but she really gets a chance to stretch here, and I think she's a young actress that's going to be one to watch for a while.

One weak part was John's ex, played by Rachelle Lefevre.  She's playing it way too calm and emotionless for the situation they are in.  I would expect a mother to be crying and screaming her head off the whole time knowing her ex-husband and daughter are inside the White House as all these explosions are happening around her, but she's way too calm.  It really stood out to me as odd.

White House Down is a dumb, cliched action film.  However, there are some great, crazy action scenes, and the film manages to be fun and entertaining.  If you haven't gotten your action fix this Summer, give this a shot.  If you go in with low expectations, you should have a good time.

2.5 (out of 5) Death Stars - Matinee-ish