78
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonIt's a movie of such jaw-dropping violence, wild improbability and dazzling style it overpowers all resistance.
- 90Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonVillage VoiceMichael AtkinsonWhatever its oversteps and excesses (I do think Park ran a little amok with the computer gimcrackery), Oldboy has the bulldozing nerve and full-blooded passion of a classic.
- 88Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversAs always with Park Chanwook, you just hold on and let him rip.
- 88PremiereGlenn KennyPremiereGlenn KennyOnce the picture gets into Hollywood's bloodstream, it could well prove to be as influential as John Woo's 1989 crime thriller, "The Killer."
- 80VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyA wild, intensely cinematic ride into two men's burning desire to get even.
- 80The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe result is a powerfully visceral experience that justifies itself almost entirely on surface chops, with striking color composition and a complex sound design that elevates the story to an operatic scale.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliRegardless of how you look at Oldboy, it's unlike anything you are likely to have seen before.
- 60The New YorkerAnthony LaneThe New YorkerAnthony LaneOldboy has the fatal air of wanting so desperately to be a cult movie that it forgets to present itself as a coherent one.
- 50Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumOldboy caused a love-it-or-hate-it stir at Cannes last year, and how could it not: It's an onslaught made to cause a sensation. Consider me simultaneously jolted and depressed.
- 10L.A. WeeklyL.A. WeeklyPut simply, in my humble opinion, Oldboy sucks.