Lady Vengeance Reviews

Park is a genius

I was waiting for this movie for a long long time having been suitably impressed a few years ago with both JSA and Sympathy For Mr Vengeance, then in 2004 Oldboy just blew my mind.

The third and final installment of Park Chan-Wook's vengeance trilogy is a much more subdued affair. It doesn't have the grand scale and twists and turns of Oldboy nor the stomach churning violence of Mr.. but it is probably the most mature work of the 3.

As with Oldboy, Park builds the tension and mystery in this film by not revealing the reason for vengeance until the last part of the film - and when it comes it is suitably evil and worthy of such a cunning plan as builds in the first 2/3rds.

Yeong-ae Lee is good as the troubled Lady Vengeance and Choi Min Sik shows why he is one of todays great actors with a truly evil performance.

The last part of the movie is brilliantly made, full of tension and both the vengeance and the reason are suitably horrific, but the entire film is filled with glorious camera work and clever imagery and while the movie is mainly following (with flashbacks) the plan for revenge and those who plot it, without letting on what that plan is, or the reason for it, it's always gripping and wonderful to look at.

There are people who loved Oldboy but never really had the same feelings for ..Mr Vengeance. I would have to say the movie is closer in style to ..Mr than to Oldboy.. in terms of pacing and being much less grand and operatic in terms of plot.

It should definetley be checked out if only to see one of todays most daring and brilliant directors at the top of his game. Watch out for cameos from the leads from Park's earlier films too!

lady vengeance

did not watch this film as, although in the setup the language is english, i could not change the language and therefore could not understand any of it as it is in Korean!!!!!

Good but no 'Oldboy'

This is the third and final instalments of writer/director Chan Wook Parks 'Vengeance' trilogy. Like its predecessors 'Sympathy for Mr Vengeance' & 'Oldboy' the plot revolves around an act of wrongdoing and the victims, often ingenious-always violent, efforts to seek revenge.

Don’t worry if you haven’t seen the previous two movies as each instalment is individual and not related to the others except for the common theme.

It’s an excellent movie and it’s probably unfair to compare it to 'Oldboy' which is legendary!

What's This???????

I have not seen nor received this film so I cannot comment on it.

A tale of two halves

Lady vengeance starts off in the same vein as the directors previous hit, Oldboy, a whimsical tale of a loner looking for revenge, and whilst being very violent it has a blackly comic sense of fun,and even elements of magic as the heroine sets about planning her revenge on the scumbag who forced her behind bars.

But into the second half of the film a dark secret is revealed that sends the storyline into more of a discussion on the nature of revenge and whether inner peace can be attained by violent retribution, leading to some very unpleasant scenes.

now both halves are interesting and entertaining but as a whole the complete shift in style and content stops the flow of the narrative.

there was potential for two great films, but instead were left with a bit of a mess.

Rubbish

An absolutly rubbish film

[Highly rated reviewer]

Very good, but not as good as Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance or Oldboy

A very good film, with an interesting story (the story does jumps around a bit though - to the past, then back to the present, then to the past again (maybe too much)), some occasional dark humour, some violence (as usual), and a good soundtrack. The film however has a slower pace than Sympathy for Mr Vengeance and Oldboy, and yet more unnecessary animal cruelty (shooting a dog)! Min-sik Choi is great again (as he was in Oldboy), and there is good acting from Yeong-ae Lee in the main role. The two main leads out of Mr. Vengeance are also good in the limited roles they are given as two assassins (it must be noted that alot of the cast from the other two films in the Vengeance Trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance & Oldboy) are given roles or cameos in this film). On the whole the film is better in the 2nd hour (and in particular the last 30-minutes) than the 1st hour, but lacks a big twist (like Oldboy) and real emotion (like Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance). The weakest of the Vengeance Trilogy of films, but still very good on its own merits.

[Highly rated reviewer]

The trilogy ends with a whimper

Park had said that he was interested in examining the idea of vengeance from a female perspective, but this conclusion to his 'revenge trilogy' (see also 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance' and 'Oldboy') demonstrates how completely he has run out of inspiration. A very thin story-line (where the other two were, if anything, plot heavy), tricked out with a lot of arty editing and inserts, and very little new to say, beyond some mild satire at the place of women in Korean society. Oddly, the film works best as a comedy, in its first half, and as a straightforward thriller in its second; but Park doesn't seem to have much idea how to reconcile the two. Something of a disappointment, I'm afraid.

Boring

As a big fan of Old Boy and many other oriental gore films, I was disappointed by this film. Not a bad story, good acting and a great scene near the end, but my god its totally ruined by hours of boring arty scenes. Not even well done art like Hero or anything, just pointless lingering on falling snow, and 15 minutes of boredom AFTER the twist to really kill the climax. With the plot and gore capability, it could have been so much more.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Lady Vengeance

Park Chan-wook's final entry in his Vegeance trilogy is a film that must be seen multiple times. Come to it fresh from Oldboy, expecting something similar, and you'll be let down but look again and each time Lady Vengeance becomes a richer experience.

This is certainly Park's most visually accomplished outing to date, a beautiful film from which almost any frame could hang on the walls of an art gallery. However its greatest asset is Lee Young-ae. As Geum-ja Lee turns in one of the best performances, by a man or a woman, to grace UK cinemas this year. It's a challenging role with a wide array of emotion to play and little dialogue to assist; Lee hits every moment flawlessly and truthfully. Choi Min-sik provides sterling support as Mr Baek. The act of vengeance itself is not so explicitly handled as in Park's previous films, taking place mostly offscreen but if anything this only adds to its disturbing nature.