"MovieGazette" lists 10 features on its "It's Got" list for "Oldboy" and summarizes its review of "Oldboy" by saying, "Forget ‘"The Punisher"’ and ‘"Man on Fire"’ – this mesmerising revenger’s tragicomedy shows just how far-reaching the tentacles of mad vengeance can be." "MovieGazette" also comments that it "needs to be seen to be believed." Jamie Russell of the BBC movie review calls it a "sadistic masterpiece that confirms Korea's current status as producer of some of the world's most exciting cinema." In 2019 on "The Hankyoreh", Kim Hyeong-seok said that "Oldboy" was the 'zeitgeist of the vigorous Korean cinema in early 2000s', and a 'boiling point that led history of Korean cinema to new state'. Manohla Dargis of the "New York Times" gave a lukewarm review, saying that "there is not much to think about here, outside of the choreographed mayhem." J.R. Jones of the "Chicago Reader" was also not impressed, saying that "there's a lot less here than meets the eye."