We watched The Old Way on Hulu and were given a movie with a shaky start that made me wonder what I was getting into.

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https://youtu.be/eWakq9qQ6Ik

Synopsis

An old gunslinger, Colton Briggs (Nic Cage), is forced back into the fray when a series of unfortunate events leave him with very little to live for.

His daughter, Brook (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) joins him on his quest and learns how to navigate life as Colton’s kin.

Everyone gets more lead than they bargained for.

Review

Nic Cage is enough to get me to watch most movies. He is strange, interesting, and massively talented. I enjoy most movies where he stars. The Old Way is no exception.

This movie fumbles tremendously in the first 20 minutes, which shook my belief that it could be good or worthwhile to a large degree. 

The dialog, acting, and concept in the opening seems to miss the mark by a country mile. It felt ham-handed, simple, and very cringe.

Once the second act starts, things come back around and the concepts and characters show that they are much more than what previously met the eye.

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The Old Way wrestles with the concepts of humanity, loss, the monster’s within, our birthright, and revenge. These are themes that I’ve seen Cage embraces in a lot of his movies. 

The characters are interesting and have fun dialog and it’s set in an authentic feeling western backdrop.

Colton Brigg’s story of wrestling with his apparent lack of humanity and his life of crime catching back up to him is one that I feel a lot of people can resonate with. 

The hope or lack-thereof for the next generation and having to deal with the sins of their forefathers is an age-old one and that’s why it resonates so deeply. 

The Old Way is a solid entry into a somewhat lackluster genre of modern westerns. And it’s one that feels more deeply connected to the classic western’s of the 40’s and 50’s than other modern westerns. 

It brings back memories of other Nic Cage revenge movies, the most recent being Mandy.

Score

7/10