Lady Vengeance
  • Studio: Tartan
  • Release Date: Apr 28, 2006
Metascore
75 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
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  1. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    100
    It concludes Park's trilogy on a dual note of circular tragedy and fragile hope, while working equally well as an introduction to his universe of retribution and repentance or as a stand-alone thriller with a darkly feminist twist.
  2. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: G. Allen Johnson
    100
    Unlike the previous two installments, Lady Vengeance generates on odd feeling: hope.
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    91
    "Old Boy's" vivid star Choi Min-sik plays a terrible schoolteacher -- yet another damned soul in Park's inflammatory, inimitable movie inventory of hell on earth.
  4. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    89
    Park is one sick puppy, and I mean that in the very best sense of the phrase.
  5. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    88
    Less bloody than its predecessors, Lady Vengeance wraps up with a killer (literally) finale that calls into question the killer instinct. It's one of the reasons Park's brutal films are so emotionally rewarding.
  6. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    88
    Lady Vengeance is not for everyone. The violence, while less over-the-top and orgiastic than Park's two previous installments, is still hard and crackling. The sex is grim and graphic. And deadpan nihilism permeates the air.
  7. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Marc Mohan
    83
    Park is a visual virtuoso, with imaginative transitions and clever use of special effects wrapped around a sly, effective performance from Lee at the center of it all.
  8. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Michael Ferraro
    80
    A brutal mystery that's more beautifully poetic than the previous entries but still just as captivating. From opening to closing credits, every image is photographed as if it were a painting; even those involving ferocious violence are wonderful to look at.
  9. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    80
    Dense with pathos, poetry and humor, this is Park's finest work to date. His stomach-churning climax -- which depicts gruesome bloodshed without directly showing it -- simultaneously gratifies and indicts our most primitive instincts.
  10. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    80
    What you get for your entertainment dollar in Lady Vengeance is Korean director Chan-wook Park's brilliantly orchestrated story of how Lee Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae ) got her groove back.
  11. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    80
    Chan-wook Park completes his "revenge trilogy" with this ravishing black comedy about a notorious child killer.
  12. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    A comedy of evil and strange redemption, Lady Vengeance makes sure that we feel the pain, that we know what it's like to unreasonably suffer, because those are the rules of its mad, wounding, vengeful world.
  13. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    75
    For most of Lady Vengeance, Park is playing with us. But the jokey atmosphere dissipates and the fun turns inside out in the movie's last act.
  14. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    75
    Lady Vengeance contains violence (some extreme), but it is not an action film. It is deliberately paced, allowing the audience to have time to reflect upon what's happening. And the comedy is of the gallows variety.
  15. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Ethan Alter
    75
    Those last thirty minutes are worth the price of admission.
  16. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    75
    Lady Vengeance is more than half over before we discover the object of Geum-Ja's hatred: a kindergarten teacher named Mr. Baek. He's played by Choi Min-sik, the prisoner in "Old Boy," and here he's as tepid as he was heated in that film.
  17. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Tasha Robinson
    75
    It takes patience and industry to make sense of the first half, intestinal fortitude to deal with the second, and a little flexibility to make the transition from one to the other. But the whole process adds up to a fairly impressive two-stage thrill ride, like rafting through choppy waters, then plummeting over a waterfall into a dark and deadly pit.
  18. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Frank Scheck
    70
    Mixes comedy and melodrama to a typically baroque degree. Like his "Oldboy" and "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance," the film displays an audacious visual and narrative style, often sacrificing credibility and coherence along the way. But there is no denying its originality.
  19. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    70
    As much as Lady Vengeance spins around its implacable protagonist like a rabid dog on a rope, the film becomes in its last, galling act an unlikely but stunning ensemble piece.
  20. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    70
    A wildly inventive, highly cinematic director's showcase that looks likely, at least in the West, to enthuse fans of Asian -- especially Korean -- genre movies more than general auds.
  21. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    63
    If you've seen either of the first two flicks in this outrageous series - "Oldboy" and "Sympathy for Mister Vengeance" - you know what's coming. Novices should prepare for mind-bending bloodshed and violence.
  22. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    50
    If this is what qualifies, as some critics have suggested, as an artistic advance for Mr. Park, let us pray for a hasty retreat.
  23. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Nathan Lee
    40
    A convoluted hodge-podge of time frames, subplots and bit player back stories.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 31 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
  1. AaronM.
    10
    Incredibly powerful and intensley emotional storytelling. Pefect in a very dark, disturbing way that all drama should strive to be.
  2. Nesbitt10
    8
    Beyond the unsettling storyline, violence, and bloodshed-- there lies a splendor of exceptional film making by Chan-Wook Park, and a marvelous performance by Yeong-ae Lee to be admired. Chan-wook Parks "Lady Vengeance" is the third and last installment of the "Vengeance Trilogy", which are all linked by theme only--not literal sequels. Geum-ja is after gruesome justice of a distinctly personal nature. It's her overwhelming grief and anger, and her unflagging conviction in an act she knows will taint her beyond redemption, that gives her obsessive odyssey its intensity.
    "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" begins with Geum-ja (Lee Young-ae) walking out of prison after serving a 13-year sentence for kidnapping and murder. She is determined to track down and kill Baek (Choi Min-sik from "Oldboy"), the man she holds responsible for her imprisonment. Her incarceration not only cost her 13 years of freedom, but she was also forced to give up custody of her only daughter. Upon her release, she is presented with a plate of tofu; a tradition (a blank slate if you will), that symbolizes that she will never sin again. Instead of accepting this, she smacks it out of the givers hand. Geum-ja enlists the aid of her previous inmates, who had come to recognize her for her kindness and caring while incarcerated and were all too willing to assist in her revenge. It is revealed later that Geum-ja did help kidnap the boy, but she did not commit the murder. So why would someone lie about being a murderer and get thirteen years in prison for something they did not do?
    Nearly the entire first half of the film is spent trying to understand the protagonist and the sequence of events that led her do the things she may or may not have done. In typical Chan-wook Park's style, the scenes jump around a lot instead of following a linear narrative which makes some scenes seem unimportant at the time, but later reveals their importance. That being said, this style of editing demands the upmost attention to detail which some will turn some viewers off. Like the other two films of the trilogy, re-watching Lady Vengeance would be necessary to full appreciate the film.
    Looking back at "Lady Vengeance", it becomes apparent that each film in Park's trilogy focuses on different aspects of revenge. "Mr. Vengeance" centers on the irony of vengeance, and how the violent and impulsive acts of the main characters all stem from love. "Oldboy" focused on the madness inherent in the need for vengeance as summed up by its protagonist Oh Dae Su, who only desires revenge after being imprisoned for 15 years, but doesn't know what to do after he gets it. And finally, "Lady Vengeance" is about salvation and the morality behind vengeance. As the closing of a "theme based trilogy"--"Lady Vengeance" comes across as a combination of its predecessors, with the slick cinematography, gorgeous production design, an incredible musical score, and the pacing and static camera shots of "Mr. Vengeance." For moviegoer's, it's easy to draw comparisons to Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill." Both lead characters are attractive young women with similar circumstances. They both have children playing an integral part of the protagonist's motivation, and they were betrayed and exploited by men. While the conclusions are similar, their contrasting approaches are vastly different. The self-imposed sentence served is utterly brutal and gruesome, and yet unconventionally satisfying. Revenge is a dish best served cold, but only enjoyed when shared by a group of like-minded diners, accompanied by a classical Vivaldi score for a final banquet of closure.    … Full Review »
  3. SteveK.
    7
    The movie drags its feet with an inevitable, merciless, and drawn out revenge. Much more complex in its exploration of revenge and its consequences than Oldboy, but a much less interesting plot. Geum-jah's brilliant plot for revenge is a Count of Monte Cristo wanna-be that feels hollow, underdeveloped, and under-explained. Less shock, less plot, but more emotionally moving than Oldboy. Its an exhausting and disturbing movie, that's worth a look, but Park could have paced this movie a lot better and kept it from sputtering to its clumsy, unresolved end.… Full Review »
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