11 Film Endings That Didn't Solve Anything
5. Oldboy (2013)
The less said about this ill-fated remake, the better. Rarely has a film been worth less than the sum of its parts: between the oddly subdued Josh Brolin, the tragically wasted Elizabeth Olsen and whatever the hell Sharlto Copley was up to, this should've been better even before you realise it was Spike Lee behind the camera.
Yet one of the most egregious slights in translating this Korean classic came in the ending: seemingly unhappy with the original's ambiguous close, writer Mark Protosevich deviated from the established material. So while we still get the earth-shattering twist concerning Joe and Marie's relationship, the remake takes it a step beyond. Instead of submitting to hypnosis to help forget the family incest, Joe instead chooses to lock himself back in his old cell in penance, paying for his captivity with the diamonds he took from Copley's Adrian.
Wishing to be a good father (under the circumstances, anyhow), he charges his jailer (incongruously played by Samuel L. Jackson) with giving the remainder of the diamonds to his daughter. It seems odd, but it's still a resolution, right? Well, not really.
It may seem as if everything's all wrapped up, but there's still one rogue element in play: Sam Jackson. Joe is relying on him to carry out the bargain, but what if he got cold feet? Newly re-incarcerated, Joe couldn't lift a finger to stop him. While the jewels made it to Marie, she's still very much vulnerable to attack - indeed, Jackson came close to raping her earlier in the film. And hell, it's not as if the guy has a grudge to bear against Joe, right?
Oh wait, he totally does - the guy painfully tortured him earlier in the film, and money or not, he'd probably be itching for vengeance. If he decides to off him and take the prison payment for his own, that'd be brutal enough. But remember, this guy's a sadist who locks people up for a living, so - you can bet your bottom dollar he's going to find Maria and make her suffer. Worse still, he'll probably let Joe know he's done it.