This is a hard movie for me to rate, and review, because I have such mixed feeling about it. Old Boy is an expertly told thriller, full of suspense, that I simultaneously loved and hated. What I absolutely loved was the beginning. I would even dare to call it the best beginning of a revenge story that I've ever seen. From the opening moments to the time he is finally free, I was on the edge of my seat. Oh Dae-Su's transformation is also amazing to watch, and I was completely impressed with Choi Min Sik's performance. From there we get to the heart of the revenge story. Oh Dae-Su's search for the man who ruined his life is full of intrigue. Yoo Ji Tae brilliantly plays the antagonist Lee Woo Jin, with a really creepy sophistication. There's also an epic hallway battle scene, that shows some amazing direction, and is pretty iconic. I was falling completely in love with this movie, and then there's Mi do... It's hard for me to express how much I hated this character. At first she seemed interesting, but then it was clear that her character would be weak, and shallow. I watched a rescreening of this film recently, and overheard two women complaining in the bathroom about how offended they were by her character, and how this ruined the movie for them. I was also offended. Then there's a minor character, Lee Soo Ah, who I found to be equally shallow, and offensive. I cannot blame the actresses, these characters were simply written poorly. The female characters are my first major problem with this film. The other issue I had was with the ending. The story behind Oh Dae-Su's kidnapping, and how this revenge story is resolved, is meant to be shocking, but I thought it was just ridiculous. Some people may love the over the top story, with it's controversial subject matter, but I thought it was too unbelievable to take seriously. This was a major let down after loving the beginning so much. The end just kept on adding shocking twist, on top of shocking twist, and then ended in a bloody confrontation that was also shocking. When it was all over I felt like I had watched two different movies. I definitely preferred the beginning movie over the end movie. I can agree that this is a well made film, and very original, but I can't exactly say that I liked it. I would still recommend it because of the parts that were exceptionally well done. The great moments are what stayed with me once it was over, and made me almost forget why I didn't really like it. It's also worth seeing if you're simply in the mood to watch something twisted.