The Old Guard review

THE OLD GUARD: 

OVER-THE-TOP DEPARTURE FROM TRADITIONAL SUPERHERO/COMIC BOOK MOVIE FARE IS FUN, BUT SOMEWHAT BOGGED DOWN BY FAMILIAR GENRE TROPES! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

NETFLIX

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlize Theron, Marwan Kenzari, KiKi Layne, and Luca Marinelli in The Old Guard

            A group of mercenaries with a mysterious inability to die is recruited to take on an emergency mission that exposes their extraordinary powers to humanity in The Old Guard, the new action film released on Netflix based on the graphic novel of the same name by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández. The film is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees, Beyond the Lights) and stars Charlize Theron (Monster, Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde) as a centuries old warrior who leads the team of unkillable mercenaries. 

            I should make this perfectly clear; I am not familiar with the original comic this film is based on at all. I’ve never read it before, and I wasn’t even aware the movie was based on a comic book until a few days ago when I watched the trailer, so I have no idea how faithful it is to the source material. 

            However, I am aware the creator of the comic, Greg Rucka wrote the screenplay for this movie so maybe it’s a very faithful adaptation, but I couldn’t tell you. Instead, I will be judging it as a standalone movie although, I am curious to see what the original comic is like.

Despite knowing practically nothing about the film initially, I was intrigued by its premise when I watched the trailer for the first time. It sounded like a John Wick meets Upgrade type of movie and I was 100% onboard for that…and with Theron as the team’s leader? Sign me up. 

A movie about a bunch of indestructible mercenaries with the inability to die, a premise like that can work both as a tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top action movie and as a grounded and down-to-earth thriller with a sense of mystery. Well, now that I’ve watched it, I can say that while the film is undoubtably fun during the action sequences, Theron’s performance is great, and there are a lot of interesting ideas being explored, the movie itself kind of falls short of expectations.

            The film follows a team of tight-knit mercenaries with the inability to die led by a warrior named Andy (Theron) who have fought to protect the world for centuries. The team consists of former French soldier, Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts-Rust and Bone, The Drop, The Mustang), Muslim warrior who participated in the Crusades, Joe (Marwan Kenzari-Loft, Wolf (2013 film), Aladdin (2019)), former Crusader, Nicky (Luca Marinelli-The Great Beauty, They Call Me Jeeg, Martin Eden), and their newest member, former U.S. Marine who served in Afghanistan, Nile (KiKi Layne-If Beale Street Could Talk, Native Son, Coming 2 America). 

            However, when they’re recruited for an emergency mission that exposes their extraordinary powers and they are soon targeted by a shadowy organization that seeks to replicate and monetize their powers, it’s up to Andy, Nile, and the rest of the team to stop them before it’s too late. 

            The film also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, The Martian, Doctor Strange) as James Copley, Harry Melling (Harry Potter franchise, The Lost City of Z, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) as Steven Merrick, Veronica Ngo (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Furie, Da 5 Bloods) as Quynh, Anamaria Marinca (Sex Traffic, Fury, Ghost in the Shell(2017)) as Dr. Meta Kozak, and Joey Ansah (Batman Begins, The Bourne Ultimatum, Snow White and the Huntsman) as Keane. 

            Overall, The Old Guard for the most part is an entertaining time waster with plenty of high-octane action sequences and strong performances from its cast. However, the concept of the film leaves a lot to be desired and it doesn’t quite explore the vast possibilities of its premise. 

            Mostly because while the film is a nice departure from the Marvel and DC style comic book movies that seem to dominate the box-office lately, it gets a little bogged down by various familiar tropes and conventions of its genre. 

This is a movie about people with extraordinary powers so naturally there is an evil CEO in a suit who wants to profit off their powers instead of for scientific and medical purposes as the main villain (Why do I suddenly have the urge to quote Bill Paxton from Twister?). Also, we need a bunch of moody songs to play during emotional scenes and action sequences (Which I’m usually okay with if it works but it happens so frequently I thought I was watching the Ben Affleck Daredevil movie for a moment), and most of the action sequences are a lot of fun and have plenty of carnage but I kind of wished they went all out with them and delivered ridiculously over-the-top action on par with something like Face/Off or RoboCop. 

With that said, when the action is good it’s really good, the two best examples of action in this film are the opening fight scene where Theron shoots and slaughters bad guys left and right I can describe as if John Wick and The Bride had a baby and she grew up to be an immortal and deadly assassin, and the other notable action scene is a fight on a plane between Theron and Layne where they’re shooting one another and snapping each other’s limbs only to have them instantly heal, it’s both thrilling and funny at the same time. 

The Old Guard may not deliver the hyper-violent action flick its premise suggests, but the action sequences it does offer, efforts to flesh out its characters, and the charisma-filled performances by its cast more than make up for it. It isn’t something I’d watch again but for a one-time viewing I’m glad I watched it and hopefully, if a sequel gets made, they can expand upon what worked in this while fix or at least remove what didn’t.