The Old Guard

While it perhaps takes itself a little too seriously, The Old Guard is an inventive sci-fi/fantasy action thriller, anchored by another great performance by Charlize Theron, and packing in a good amount of character development between the impressive fight sequences.

Premise:  A small group of immortal mercenaries led by Andromache of Scythia (Charlize Theron) – now going by “Andy” – are hired by ex-CIA agent James Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) for a dangerous mission to rescue kidnapped children in South Sudan.  Meanwhile, a US Marine (KiKi Layne) serving in Afghanistan miraculously heals after receiving a fatal injury…

Review:

Author Greg Rucka wrote the screenplay to this adaptation of his own 2017 comic book miniseries, so it’s fair to say that the film’s retained the writer’s voice, rather than become just another watered down Hollywood action flick.  Perhaps this is why the film feels like it not only lives up to the potential of its premise, but it also adds a few extra layers that you may not have been expecting.

The premise is a tantalising one: for centuries, certain individuals have found that they have superhuman healing abilities, so strong that they can return to life after receiving lethal injuries.  Think Wolverine crossed with Highlander.  But whereas in Highlander the immortals were locked in an eternal battle with each other, in The Old Guard the immortals seek each other out as the only companions they are going to have on their centuries-long journey.  There are also very few of them – we only hear about seven of them in the film, and as far as we know, that is all of the immortals that have ever existed.

“…has a surprising amount of character moments…”

In lesser hands, the premise could have just been an excuse for string of unengaging action scenes, or perhaps worse, a poor imitation of Wolverine’s story or the Highlander universe.  Instead, despite its lighter moments and its well-choreographed action sequences, The Old Guard also has a surprising amount of character moments, and more than a little melancholy.

When we meet Andy (Charlize Theron) she has lost her hope in humanity, and has tired of her immortal life.  For centuries she has led her small group of immortal warriors in their attempts to do good where they can, but all she sees in the world around her is endless death and misery, with things getting worse for humanity, not better.  She is the oldest of the immortals, and is now just waiting for the day when her immortality with inexplicably expire, just as it did for one of her companions centuries ago.  The rest of her team also have very different perspectives on immortality; Joe (Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky (Luca Marinelli) are lucky enough to have found love with another immortal, but Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts) still feels the loss of his son from centuries ago.  Meanwhile, US marine Nile Freeman’s (KiKi Layne) discovery that she can’t die offers the audience an entry point into the immortals’ world.

“…Charlize Theron continues to impress…”

But the film isn’t just about contemplating the meaning of eternal existence – there are also plenty of well-staged and inventive action sequences, involving everything from fistfights, to gun battles and medieval weaponry.  Director Gina Prince-Bythewood does a good job of keeping the action visually interesting, while Charlize Theron continues to impress as an actor who is able to move seamlessly between Oscar-nominated performances (like this January’s Bombshell) and all-out action roles like Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde and The Old Guard, once again demonstrating why she’s one of the most versatile yet accessible actors working today.

That’s not to say that the film is perfect by any stretch; the plot is quite clunky in places yet insubstantial in others, and the film’s villains are awful pantomime baddies.  I’d also like to have seen more of the ever-excellent Chiwetel Ejiofor, although I appreciate he’d very much intended as a secondary character in this film.  But when all’s said and done, the movie’s positives far outweigh its weaknesses, and even its plot and villain shortcomings are arguably attributable to the filmmakers’ decision to focus on character and world building instead.  The international cast add extra depth to the group dynamic, and it’s also great to see a multi-cultural, multi-faith, loving gay relationship depicted so positively in what is essentially a mainstream action film.  And perhaps what makes the action sequences so engaging is that each one is used to develop the characters further, so that the image of the four immortals moving together as one through a hail of bullets tells you more about their centuries-long bond that any amount of verbal exposition could.

“…one of the better original action blockbusters of the last couple of years…”

The Old Guard is essentially a non-superhero comic book movie, which means that it should appeal not only to fans of comic book/graphic novels, but also those who might normally turn their noses up at spandex-wearing caped crusaders.  The Old Guard is much closer to the over-the-top but still grounded tones of other non-superhero comic book movies like R.E.D., The Losers or Atomic Blonde, than it is to anything that Marvel or DC have produced (or even to the sweeping, epic historical tone of something like Highlander).

While it’s not an instant classic, The Old Guard combines impressive action sequences with decent character development to great success, and is one of the better original action blockbusters to have come out in the last couple of years.

Oh, and make sure you stay for the mid-credits scene.