Achyut Prashast Singh
India
Director Park Chan-wook's VENGEANCE TRILOGY has been acclaimed all over the world, especially OLDBOY. The first film in the trilogy was SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE and the second one was OLDBOY. Both were intense action thrillers with some heavy and impactful drama, and thus I decided to check out the final film in the trilogy, which is this film, LADY VENGEANCE.
This film stars Lee Yeong-ae in the lead role, who has given a stunning and highly impressive performance. Choi Min-sik too has impressed with his stellar act in a somewhat small role. The cameo of Song Kang-ho really proved to be a treat for me as I'm a big fan of him. Performance wise, this could be the best film of the trilogy. Execution wise, it is a good but comparatively the weakest film in the trilogy.
LADY VENGEANCE is neither action packed nor even thrilling. There are some violent sequences which have been neatly executed but aren't enough to guarantee a full-fledged, intense entertainment which the first two movies provided. SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE had me completely glued due to its dramatic yet thrilling narrative which was also supported by some well choreographed action scenes. Same applies to OLDBOY, which features the best action sequences and twists in the trilogy. LADY VENGEANCE doesn't really have anything else to boast except a decent screenplay and performances.
Technically, the film is alright. Editing is not that impressive because apart from the basic revenge plot, the subplots seem to hinder the film's pace and due to this, I couldn't finish the film in one viewing. The second half is good and goes on to entertain till the very end. The first half is also quite good but some flashbacks serve as speedbreakers.
Still as a whole, LADY VENGEANCE is a decent crime drama which can be watched if you have seen the first two movies and want to further explore Park's stylistic writing and direction. But if you haven't seen the first two films and are thinking which one to watch first, then choose any of the first two since this isn't the film to start the trilogy with.
This film stars Lee Yeong-ae in the lead role, who has given a stunning and highly impressive performance. Choi Min-sik too has impressed with his stellar act in a somewhat small role. The cameo of Song Kang-ho really proved to be a treat for me as I'm a big fan of him. Performance wise, this could be the best film of the trilogy. Execution wise, it is a good but comparatively the weakest film in the trilogy.
LADY VENGEANCE is neither action packed nor even thrilling. There are some violent sequences which have been neatly executed but aren't enough to guarantee a full-fledged, intense entertainment which the first two movies provided. SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE had me completely glued due to its dramatic yet thrilling narrative which was also supported by some well choreographed action scenes. Same applies to OLDBOY, which features the best action sequences and twists in the trilogy. LADY VENGEANCE doesn't really have anything else to boast except a decent screenplay and performances.
Technically, the film is alright. Editing is not that impressive because apart from the basic revenge plot, the subplots seem to hinder the film's pace and due to this, I couldn't finish the film in one viewing. The second half is good and goes on to entertain till the very end. The first half is also quite good but some flashbacks serve as speedbreakers.
Still as a whole, LADY VENGEANCE is a decent crime drama which can be watched if you have seen the first two movies and want to further explore Park's stylistic writing and direction. But if you haven't seen the first two films and are thinking which one to watch first, then choose any of the first two since this isn't the film to start the trilogy with.
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