Spike Lee messed up big-time by nixing Oldboy's octopus-eating

Spike Lee’s remake of the horrific 2003 Korean revenge flick Oldboy opened Wednesday, and—mainly due to comparisons to Chan-wood Park’s masterful original—the reviews have not been great. On Rotten Tomatoes right now it’s got a rating of 43 percent, with 52 “rotten” (negative) reviews and 40 “fresh” (positive) ones.

I was one of the critics who chose rotten, although I also gave it a rating of 3 out of 5, which—if my calculations are correct–works out to 60 percent. So I didn’t hate it. Not like all the horror flicks you’ll find here.

I just didn’t think it was all that special.

One thing that bugged me about Lee’s version was that he didn’t even bother recreating the scene where actor Min-sik Choi, playing the film’s bent-outta-shape protagonist Dae-su Oh, eats a live octopus at a sushi bar.

Pretty nutzoid, am I right? Yeah, yeah–I know the PETA peeps aren’t gonna be thrilled by that scene. But I haven’t seen any clinical studies that prove octopuses (octopi?) feel pain. And don’t we boil lobsters alive? Plus, actor Oh did apologize to the unfortunate Mr. Octy beforehand, if that counts.

Here’s a behind-the-scenes clip of the freaky footage being shot. I like the part at the two-minute mark where the whole idea of chomping on a wriggling, squishy sea creature just gets too much for Choi, causing him to laugh out loud.