(*warning if you’ve not seen the original the following may include spoilers*)Like it or not Oldboy is going to be made and the things are moving for the Spike Lee Directed feature with Do The Right Thing helming the American remake thins do look intriguing but deep down it will never be as good as the original. We already know Josh Brolin will play the films main protagonist (played by Min-sik Choi in the original) a man who ends up been kidnapped after been bailed out of jail drunk on his daughter’s birthday eventually finding himself locked up in motel type prison with no reason why for 15 years. When he is released he makes it his task to track down his captor a man with a very long grudge and Spike Lee has the actor he wants to play the villian of the film known in the original as Adrian , Colin Firth according to Twitch !
In the original Brolin’s character and Adrian go back a very long way, Adrian is an intelligent but a bit of a loose canon sociopath and some one very traditional like Firth as a deranged but ‘smart’ villian sounds very tempting. You could actually see some sort of Shakespearian thing going on between the two like a tragedy as Adrian isn’t just your average baddie, a very deep role which Firth could handle perfectly.
I am one of very many cinephiles who can’t understand the need for a Hollywood version of the Korean film I just hope Spike Lee doesn’t strip apart the original story for the sake of the $$$ men in Hollywood.Hopefully he will keep the essence of the Original keeps the violence, the twists & turns and not taking the cowards route of 12A (pg-13) a route that Steven Spielberg would have taken. Give credit when its due if the rumour is true at least Lee is making an effort by hiring the best actors in the high calibre of Colin Firth, its a shame Rooney Mara wont be the female lead role which will probably be the next gossip if this one is sealed.
