It's been out for a wee while, but then so have I, it's the trailer for the Spike Lee version of Oldboy adapted straight from the comic book series rather than turning to the film - whatever difference that makes I'm not really sure and I'm not about to read the series to find that out, I'd rather find out if the film has any tangible difference to Chan-wook Park's Oldboy (Filmstalker review) by watching it for the first time.

Mind you, if the trailer is anything to go by there doesn't look to be a lot of difference. There are very similar plot points and scenes and there's nothing here that's screaming out difference to me.

I think it's become a marketing ploy when Hollywood are pedalling remakes these days that there's something massively different in this version of the film because this one is based on the original source material, this remake is going to be more authentic, truer to the intended original story, and so on, but does it make for the better film? More often than not I'd say no.

However there's still hope for Oldboy because the original is a very controversial film and there has been doubt for many years that it could even be made in the West, never mind distributed, that general audiences just wouldn't take to it. So perhaps there are enough differences to make it work?

There is the list of talent here that does draw so much interest, Mark Protosevich on the latest incarnation of the script, Spike Lee directing and behind the camera Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Sharlto Copley, Michael Imperioli, Samuel L. Jackson and Lance Reddick.

Here's the official write-up:

Oldboy is a provocative, visceral thriller that follows the story of an advertising executive (Josh Brolin) who is abruptly kidnapped and held hostage for 20 years in solitary confinement. When he is inexplicably released, he embarks on an obsessive mission to discover who orchestrated his bizarre and torturous punishment only to find he is still trapped in a web of conspiracy and torment.

Co-starring Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley, OLDBOY was directed by Spike Lee, from a script by Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend, The Cell, Thor). The film was produced by Roy Lee, Doug Davison and Nathan Kahane.

Now for the trailer for the new Oldboy, see how many noticeable differences you can find: