A Netflix sequel that has less life than the original.
Let’s recap on “The Old Guard.” Charlize Theron played an immortal soldier named Andromache of Scythia, or Andy for short, who has been battling her enemies for centuries with her team: Booker (Matthias Shoenaerts), Joe (Marwan Kenzari), and Nicky (Luca Marinelli). They found a new recruit in the form of a young marine named Nile (KiKi Layne), a new alley in the form of an ex-CIA agent by the name of Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), and a former member named Quynh (Van Veronica Ngo), who was accused of witchcraft, placed in a tomb, and thrown in the water. But things have changed in the end, as Andy is no longer immortal and Booker’s betrayal has led to his banishment.
Now, Netflix has produced a sequel “The Old Guard 2,” which continues where these characters have left off, but in a more tedious fashion. Meaning: Andy struggling to fight as a mortal, Quynh angry at her, and Booker being given redemption have better interests than the routine fights and clichés along the way. In fact, I ended up being bored by this enterprise.
Uma Thurman plays a new villain who goes by many names. For now, let’s call her Discord. She’s apparently the very first immortal, who manages to free Quynh and intends to end immortals for good. So, Andy must find and confront Quynh, who vows revenge, while she and the group reunite with Booker and have another new alley-a smart immortal named Tuah (Henry Golding).
The Old Guard 2,” now directed by Victoria Mahoney (replacing Gina Prince-Bythewood), loses the magic that the first film had. Isn’t that usually the case with sequels? Especially when we have “Jurassic World: Rebirth” now in theaters, and I have told people that I stick to the classics and am not as big a fan of the franchise as I used to be. And I basically get the same agreements. But “28 Years Later” was able to break tradition in the genre by giving us bloody zombies and an emotional weight that carries the film. This one, however, is only good for patching some things up, but nothing really heals. Pun intended. Only a severed thumb heals.
The original was daring and fresh, and I consider that film to be a summer blockbuster in the streaming circuit (since the COVID-19 pandemic closed movie theaters). This one might make a splash on Netflix, but I still wouldn’t call it a summer blockbuster.
Theron, Ngo, and Shoenaerts all do what they can with their characters and they have their moments outside the fighting, but the screenplay by Greg Rucka (who wrote the graphic novel) and Sarah L. Walker doesn’t justify them. Layne, Ejiofor, Kenzari, and Marinelli’s characters are blandly written and blandly played. Not even Golding could help shake things up a bit, and the only good thing I can say about Thurman’s dull villain is that at least she gets her “Kill Bill” moment towards the end. She’s a great actress, but her villain is rather boring with uninteresting dialogue and less reasons about her sinister nature.
And of course, it has to play with an “Empire Strikes Back” cliffhanger, so given Netflix’s Top 10 lists being popular, we’re probably going to get a third movie. Maybe we’ll get some life in it.
Now Streaming on Netflix