Much like M. Night Shyamalan's career, Old is a real mixed bag. This movie was fairly hard to evaluate because in almost every way, there are aspects to appreciate and aspects to condemn. The core premise of the film is a good example of this because while it serves as an enticing spark to generate initial intrigue, the story eventually devolves into a pacing and tonal mess that ultimately leaves the viewer dazed and unsatisfied. Meanwhile, the cinematography stands out for being rather inconsistent as well. Some shots are quite beautiful, while other shots seem like they lost control of the camera. I could go on and on. From the acting to the visual effects, there were moments of delight and disaster. Rufus Sewell delivers a striking performance while Vicky Krieps comes across more wooden. Overall, Old possesses a few too many flaws to land as a genuine success. While there is enough here to give audience members sporadic hope, the film's end result will leave viewers pondering what could have been rather than reveling in what was provided.
Writing: 5/10
Direction: 5/10
Cinematography: 4/10
Acting: 6/10
Editing: 5/10
Sound: 7/10
Score/Soundtrack: 6/10
Production Design: 6/10
Casting: 5/10
Effects: 4/10
Overall Score: 5.3/10
That's the problem with a lot of M. Night's movies of late (from the Village upward). The beginning is usually decent and gets your attention, but then sadly reaches a point where it's almost like the writer boxed himself in and gets sloppy trying to find an ending that will make some kind of sense. It's either lazy story telling, bad editing or the need to cut things down for the run time. So, it sounds like he has done it again.What is amazing though and shows he is a decent director is he quite possibly is able to get his actors to perform better than they do in most of their other films. I appreciated this review as I wa…