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Okay, a pivotal plot development with a mentally challenged guy is a little weak, and kind of wrong to be the catalyst to everything that happens after, but overall I thought it was pretty great, and more than anything, I think it's more successful than Oldboy AND Lady Vengeance as a clever vengeance story.
Stylistically, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance are far better. But my problem with Lady Vengeance is that the villain is cut and dried, you don't feel bad for him and there's never any doubt that the revenge is in order, even when it arrives in a bloody way. With Oldboy, we're shown a more sympathetic side to all the main characters to kind of blur the line of who to root for--but I think the bad guy always remains the bad guy. When I saw Oldboy the second time, it stood out a little more that the main character was more of a villain than a hero, that he was meant to be a despicable guy...but the movie always stays closest to him, to keep him as the emotional focus.
In Mr. Vengeance, the 'villain' is the revenge, and all the main characters are good people that meet a tragic end because of the vengeance. You understand why each character needs the vengeance, but it's at the expense of another sympathetic character. Up til that point, I hadn't seen too many movies that successfully pulled that off--they always take a convenient way out and give the audience a reason to hate one of the characters. In fact, right now I can't think of another movie that pulls it off as well.
Sorry, that was probably way more than necessary. But because of these movies, Thirst and Joint Security Area, Park Chan-wook is probably my favorite contemporary director right now...
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