My interpretation of a question I've seen asked a few times before (warning: obvious spoilers for Oldboy, which you should certainly have seen already goodness gracious)
Obviously Oh-Dae-Su mentions the oldboys in the final apartment scene, however that line was totally ad-libbed; so why is it so important to the film? Dae su was locked up for fifteen years, where he allowed his hate to consume him, and become the often-mentioned "monster". He becomes focused on revenge and most of his personality is dominated by surpressed rage and hate, much like Daniel Plainview from There will be Blood (though Plainview was born a monster rather than made one, according to the films logic on genes).
Dae su was put into the hotel, and for fifteen years, he strived on the most basic emotion, and had only one idea to focus on; revenge. His mind stayed stationary as time slipped by. During those fifteen years, Dae su did not develop, he did not change and he certainly did not mature. He became "book smart", sure, he had TV. However, emotionally he remained impriosned in his loathing for his host, and for fifteen long, miserable years, he was stuck. If anything he reverted to being more childish, focusing on the most basic emotion of anger.
Dae Su's mind was denied the ability to develop, however his body never stopped growing. He became a child trapped in the body of an old man; and old boy. The actors who played Oh-Dae Su and Woo-Jin-Lee seem a tad young to be playing characters we assume are around 35-40 - this is because the characters lives were literally put on hold by their quest for revenge (the actors playing Oh-Dae-Su and Woo-Jin-Lee were born in 62' and 76', with the film being released in 2003).
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