SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
The Old Guard entertains at the bare minimum, with its very particular blend of physical action, drama and humour, even though it somewhat lacks in all of them.
In my experience, it’s common that films have more than a fair shot of being successful both critically and commercially if they have a bit of everything: action, comedy, drama, romance. Though the R-rating limits its audience, The Old Guard has managed to impress or at least get audiences intrigued.
Based on the Image Comics franchise of the same name, The Old Guard refers to a group of four mercenaries: Andy, Booker, Joe, and Nicky. Due to their extraordinary healing abilities they cannot die and live a life of immortality. They’re basically like Wolverine save for the adamantium. The four mercenaries take on a new mission and find out it was a set up to exploit their identities. With evidence of their existence out there, the mercenaries pursue the people responsible to keep their secret from getting out to the world.
This film has no shortage of talent behind it. You’ll see some familiar faces and even more new ones. Charlize Theron as “Andromache the Scythia” (Andy) continues a winning streak headlining action-packed franchises, having proved her mettle as Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road and Agent Lorraine Broughton in Atomic Blonde. As the leader of the group, she’s the ultimate soldier; calm and in control, but ruthless when required. Matthias Schoenaerts (Booker), Luca Marinelli (Nicky), and Marwan Kenzari (Joe) round out the main cast with equally compelling performances - especially Nicky and Joe, who make quite the duo. The characters feel very real, as they express wistfulness of the lives past and joviality with their fellow comrades.
The story also involves the young billionaire Merrick, who as the head of the largest pharma company on the planet wants to conduct tests on the Old Guard to unlock the secret ingredient to immortality. The character itself is so generic and overdone that it reminds me of such characters as Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor (Batman v Superman). The delight of seeing Harry Melling play this character comes from the shades of his performance that make Merrick seem like the entitled brat in the same way that Dudley was in the Harry Potter series.
The film excels without question in its fight scenes and whets the appetite of the millions of fans of recent small-scale spy and superhero action films from John Wick to Deadpool. Gun and hand-to-hand combat are fluidly choreographed and brutal, and the teamwork between the four is especially emphasised in moves like one person holding up extra magazines to a partner to reload in the interval between shootouts. One would expect no less from stunt coordinator Danny Hernandez who worked on many comic book films in the DC, Marvel, and Fox Cinematic Universe. Some unexpected moments of comedy also help build character and break up the longer combat scenes.
The film doesn’t quite reach the level it needs to become memorable though. There are missed opportunities, even with all the drama and humor. We get just enough of a glimpse at the emotional baggage carried by the Guard, who try to improve the world but don’t feel like they make a difference, or the relationships they might have lost because of their curse. The emotional toll of a near-eternal life is undercut by the unavoidable action scenes that make up much of this movie. But movies, even those with simpler premises than this one, are very hard to get right. The balance between all of this film’s elements and the range of emotions it made me feel redeems it in my eyes and makes it worth a watch. Despite being an overall rote action movie, The Old Guard is a great introduction to what could potentially become a franchise and I expect more and better things to come.
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