After a brand new poster was unveiled earlier this week, we now have the first official trailer for Spike Lee’s upcoming thriller, Oldboy. For those who are unaware, this is actually a remake of Chan-wook Park’s Korean film of the same name, which released back in 2003.
Being one of my favorite movies of all time, I’ve been eagerly awaiting a chance to get a look at Lee’s version for a while. Now that we have the first glimpse of footage from the film, I can safely say that it looks like this is one remake which will surely live up to the hype.
Scripted by I Am Legend scribe Mark Protosevich, the film stars Josh Brolin in the lead role with Sharlto Copley, Elizabeth Olsen and Samuel L. Jackson supporting. Almost everyone gets a bit of screen time in the trailer and it’s great to finally see all these wonderful actors in character.
Though there looks to be strong performances all around, I was most impressed by Brolin, who seems to be doing some great work in the lead role. He’s rough, he’s tough and looks perfectly capable of kicking a suitable amount of ass. I was a bit skeptical when he was cast as the protagonist but after seeing him wield that hammer, I’m fully on board. Bring on the hallway fight scene!
The other thing that strikes me about the film, judging by the trailer at least, is how dark it is. Lee had said that his version would be darker than the original and though I didn’t believe it at the time, I think he may be correct. This is definitely a film that you’ll want to leave the kids at home for as it looks to be quite brutal and extreme.
Whether or not it will top the original remains to be seen but from the looks of this red band trailer, I think Lee is using his R rating quite well.
All things considered, I think the Oldboy remake looks very promising and I’m definitely eager to see more of it. Hopefully the promotional campaign continues strongly over the next few months.
Oldboy hits theatres on October 25th, 2013. Check out the first trailer below and let us know what you think in the comments.
