Considering how much I love "Oldboy", it would be nearly impossible for this film to surpass it. But, that said, it does hold it's own quite well. It's actually a pretty different type of film than "Oldboy" in terms of style and tone. It's a much slower, more artistic film. It's also quite possibly more bleak than the intense-but-fun follow-up, although it has some odd moments of humor that I really appreciated. If the film somewhat lacks the flashy, visceral entertainment of "Oldboy", it also reinforces that Chan Wook-Park is indeed a serious filmmaker with a great deal of depth. "Oldboy" could be seen by some as just a stylish action film, but "Mr. Vengeance" blatantly reveals that there is much more going on with Park, if you didn't notice it in his other film. There is very little kinetic, flashy, camera-work, and instead many long, still, wide shots. Like I said, it is also significantly slower than it's fast-paced follow-up. Possibly a bit too slow, actually, and certainly at times too disjointed, particularly toward the beginning. But those are really my only complaints. Otherwise it is great film that reveals Chan Wook-Park as a filmmaker to take seriously, that reveals him to be one of the best newer filmmaker actually, I think.