The Old Way is a revisionist western starring Nicolas Cage that tries to save itself from repeating itself in the cycle of this genre. Be with Zumji by criticizing this movie.
Westerns never get old or go out of fashion. The Old Way is one of the first films of 2023, which showed that the Western is still an integral part of cinema, and this medium lacks something without such films. In fact, Western was born with cinema and will remain with cinema forever. Throughout the history of filmmaking, this kind of cinema has been reinventing itself many times and many times in an endless cycle and has introduced new types of its genre into the world of films and shows. After the decline of the golden era of this cinema, the western turned to anti-westerns for its survival, and now the westerns of these days are very different from the classic westerns of their birth.
When most of what has to be said about westerns, the audience in the world of these films will be looking for what new things have been added to their favorite genre and how much the newly created story can have the appeal of classic westerns and old anti-westerns, because westerns basically follow a set of rules. And repetitive patterns have become a genre, and if the past patterns exist unchanged in today’s stories, the audience will not be attracted to them, and in this case, the audience’s preference is to continue to the works of John Ford, Sergio Leone, and other directors of this genre. . Now we have to see how much The Old Way was able to add something new to this genre and distance itself from repetition in this kind of cinema.
In the following, parts of the film’s story will be revealed
Colton Bridges is a former Western World Award winner who was redeemed by a woman and raised a family. He now has a daughter and runs a shop for a living. One day some people attack his house and kill his wife. Bridges goes after the outlaws to avenge his family. The Old Way is based on the theme of revenge in the western world, and its idea is similar to most western movies that have been made so far. Colton is an element of the world of classic westerns, a character who has abandoned his disappointing past but the hand of fate has drawn him back into the field of rebellion for revenge.
The Old Way moves on the basis of the western world’s revenge theme and its idea is similar to most of the western movies that have been made so far.
It is true that the two-line film “The Old Way” is based on the revenge and chases of the classic cinema of this genre, but it also has psychological ideas in its heart, and based on that, it advances its story. Colton Bridges has a 12-year-old daughter named Brooke, who accompanies him on his quest to avenge his wife. In the opening scenes of the film, we realize that these two people do not have a good relationship with each other and cannot express their true feelings to each other. But when they start their road trip, an idea is formed in the film and the revelation of these two people begins with each other.
Colton and Brooke must get along and protect each other in this revenge journey. What keeps the two close is Ruth Bridges, Colton’s wife and Brooke’s mother. The one who changed Colton’s world and gave Brooke a good life. But this revelation and emotional connection does not reach the depth of a psychological narrative and acts only like a reflection. Here, Ruth is an archetype, a maternal element who was able to change the most evil man in the area and provide him with a platform for redemption. But the effects of this goddess of fate appear in the faintest possible way, and the audience does not understand how Brooke was able to get close to her father and at the end of the story, she also gained the ability to cry.
In fact, in the movie The Old Way, there is a necessary and sufficient channel for the formation of characters and their unique motivations from the side of ideas, but it is Pirang who hesitates to reach a solid story and prefers the show to end as soon as possible. These character relationships and complexities in the film lead us to spaghetti westerns, because both the characters have dimensions and their relationships are based on archetypes and psychological ideas, which are in conflict with the characters of classic westerns.
In the movie The Old Way, there is a necessary and sufficient channel for the formation of characters and their unique motivations from the side of ideas, but it is Pirang that hesitates to reach a bony story.
Colton is the champion of the world of classic westerns and the archetype of this genre. He plays the role of a legend, has a not-so-charming past, and is nowhere to be found. Colton, unlike the spaghetti western heroes, has a chivalrous disposition, treats Marshall’s companion, and has nothing to do with innocents. This path for Colton’s character is a heroic journey to reach the end of salvation. Because of his wife, he has entered the paths of salvation, but it seems that his sins are so many that they can only be cleansed by death, a death that turns him into a hero.
The presence of two female characters in the film leads us to two different types of westerns. Colton’s wife Ruth is killed by the evil force of the story, she is oppressed and deserves love and respect. An element that in old classic westerns calls the hero and the good force of the story to help him and was used so that Pirang could build his own heroic world and choose his hero from among men. But Colton’s twelve-year-old daughter, Brooke, is a character from the world of revisionist westerns, and through the contrast she creates with her mother, she somehow shows a transition from the world of classic westerns. He wears men’s clothes, shoots, doesn’t run away, is ready to answer, and finally kills the killer of his parents and becomes the owner of their family shop. She is a woman from the world of anti-westerns, a character who chose her own fate and like the classic western woman, she does not give anyone a chance to sympathize.
The ending of The Old Way is influenced by classic westerns. Everything ends epically and heroically. Colton is going to go home and be buried a hero. The rebels are convicted in court and Brooke gets everything. No idea here takes on an air of absurdity, and instead of the absurdity of spaghetti westerns, hope surrounds the characters. It’s true that the movie ends with the death of the hero and the force of good, but the movie goes back to the revisionist universe and immediately replaces all the male heroes with a woman.
This movie mixes elements of classic western, spaghetti and revisionist to avoid repetition
The Old Way is Nicolas Cage’s first acting experience in a western film. In this show, he presented one of his weakest performances and for a rebel with a revolver, he cannot perform well. In the movie The Old Way, Cage advances his role only by imitating western character types and never enters into the layers of personality of people in the western world.
In fact, if we take away the brimmed hat, the long fur coat, the revolver, and that cage handkerchief, he has nothing left to offer. This movie mixes elements of classic western, spaghetti and revisionist to avoid repetition. But in the end, The Old Way Show becomes one of dozens of films that have failed to reinvent the Western. This movie has repetitive ideas with a not so coherent delivery and its only intention is to end quickly.
