by the time when i watched this movie about 40 minutes, i realized it was just another americanized Hollywood version adapted from the Cannes festival awarded best film, 'oldboy', an extremely sad and sorrowful movie about the redemption, revenge, generation gap, the unknown factor of the fatal tragic doom, yet both of these movies were adapted from the Greek tragedy, 'oedipus the king', with a little twist of the involved characters, but nonetheless, still on the same family tree.
this American version is in general, not a bad adaption, it's as dark and dangerous as the 'oldboy', using the same core of Athenian tragedy that human beings are nothing but the puppets manipulated by the goddess of fate, and nothing you encountered later in your life was not originated from what you did in the past. life is a terrible joke that you play to yourself, no matter how correct the palm reading told, you just can't avoid what must, should and would happen in your whole life. everybody already got a fixed screenplay of fate, fortune, luck or misfortune, you have to play it as it has been pre-scripted, even the Greek king couldn't get away from it.
i strongly recommend both, watching 'oldboy' and read the Greek tragedy, because this is the only way to make you become more pessimistic (but of course i'm joking).
this American version is in general, not a bad adaption, it's as dark and dangerous as the 'oldboy', using the same core of Athenian tragedy that human beings are nothing but the puppets manipulated by the goddess of fate, and nothing you encountered later in your life was not originated from what you did in the past. life is a terrible joke that you play to yourself, no matter how correct the palm reading told, you just can't avoid what must, should and would happen in your whole life. everybody already got a fixed screenplay of fate, fortune, luck or misfortune, you have to play it as it has been pre-scripted, even the Greek king couldn't get away from it.
i strongly recommend both, watching 'oldboy' and read the Greek tragedy, because this is the only way to make you become more pessimistic (but of course i'm joking).