When it comes to popular streaming services, one of the most reliable ones that audiences turn to in terms of content is Netflix. The streaming giant has become more of a powerful force in recent years with them not only churning out popular TV shows, but also putting out film content of their own. Such popular hits from Netflix include
Cloverfield: Paradox, Bird Box, When They See Us, and Extraction. With
The Old Guard, Netflix aims to take things one step further with a superhero style storyline that promises lots of intense action along with a kick-ass performance from female action heroine Charlize Theron in the main role. The end result is a film that delivers on the grounds of being reasonably solid entertainment with high-octane action and terrific performances from its main cast. Whereas the plot isn't anything that audiences haven't seen before, the film has much to offer in terms of excitement and thrills with the appeal of both its main cast and female star being the primary driving force of the film working as well as it ultimately does.
Based on the popular comic book series, the plot for The Old Guard focuses on four ancient warriors (Played by Charlize Theron, Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, and Luca Marinelli) who possess the ability to heal from their battle wounds, take on covert missions with the intent of protecting humans over the course of many centuries. When a ruthless pharmaceutical mogul (Played by Harry Melling) becomes hell-bent on kidnapping them in order to find and profit off their immorality secret, they realize they not only have to protect themselves but also look after a young woman (Played by KiKi Layne), who discovers that she can't be killed. The plot for The Old Guard is an interesting one that feels like a cross between X-Men and Wolverine. It serves as being compelling enough of a story to both excite and thrill audiences with an appealing cast of talented actors and actresses to help sell the plot to audiences. The story is handled in a way that feels mature with its concept instantly drawing audiences in, particularly when they see KiKi Layne's characters abilities early on. Much in a similar fashion that Bryan Singer approached the X-Men franchise with the 2000 film, Gina Prince Bythewood gives the film a realistic and serious tone with it only revealing its shades of comic book origins when dealing with the healing abilities of the characters, as well as the films terrific action sequences that are mostly led by Charlize Theron's brilliant and electrifying performance. The Old Guard works best as being solid popcorn entertainment with a plot that carries with it brains along with stellar action scenes to back it up. Its tone is different than the average MCU or DCEU comic book film, but it aims for the same level of enjoyment while adding some thoughtfulness to its plot. While it can be said that the film sometimes feels confined to the conventions of the comic book genre, there's still much here to behold which makes The Old Guard a fun ride that audiences will enjoy taking and feel mostly satisfied with if they go in with the right expectations.
As creative as the story is and thrilling as the action appears, it's the performances of the main cast that help make the story as believable as it comes across as being. The main cast all work well together in regards to delivering performances, that are effective and add to both the intensity and excitement of the film. The strongest work in the film comes from Charlize Theron in the main role as Andy/Andromache of Scythia. When it comes to doing action type roles, Theron is one of the best female action stars out there as she brings her A game to the part of playing the head of a group of immortal warriors disguised as mercenaries. Theron brings the right amount of seriousness to the part with her character carrying the right balance of toughness and emotion. Few actresses are able to pull off being dramatic and an action star simultaneously, but she manages to do both perfectly. KiKi Layne also impresses as former US Marine Nile Freeman, who got fatally harmed during a mission in Afghanistan with her discovering that she carries healing powers. Layne plays the role very well and brings the right amount of toughness, vulnerability and strength to her character. Her moments with Theron are effective in regards to conveying the tension of the story with audiences, as well as their characters eventually growing to understand each other throughout the course of the film. The heart of the film was always going to rely on how the role of Nile is played and thankfully Layne manages to rise to the occasion and make her character a likeable and worthy member of the team. Chiwetel Ejiofor delivers a solid performance as former CIA agent James Copley, who is shown grieving the loss of his wife from ALS with him pursuing the mercenaries in hopes of helping the rest of humanity with fighting diseases by learning more about their special abilities. Ejiofor succeeds in making his character complex in which the audience essentially views him as an antagonist at first, but ultimately turns out to be a sympathetic figure as he doesn't want any of the mercenaries to be harmed and disagrees with many of Steven Merrick's extremes in regards to capturing and experimenting on the team. Harry Melling shines in his role as the films main antagonist, Steven Merrick. Though Melling's character comes across as feeling like the greedy and generic corporate villain (Who misguides people into thinking he's after the scientific research of the immortals in hopes of helping people, but is actually doing it for personal gain), that can be found in this type of comic book or Sci-Fi story, he manages to take the role and still make it effective in regards to playing a bad guy that audiences ultimately despise the more the film progresses. The rest of the mercenary team/ancient warriors deliver noteworthy performances with Matthias Schoenaerts shining as Booker, a former French soldier who fought under Napoleon. Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli also give strong and likeable performances as Joe, a Muslim warrior who participated in the Crusades, as well as being Nicky's lover and Marinelli playing Nicky, a former Italian Crusader who began as an enemy of Joe before becoming lovers after both discovered their immortality. As a whole, the cast for
The Old Guard lays down a solid foundation in creating an ensemble team that works effectively well off each other with every performance being convincing while adding to the films suspense. As good as the entire cast turns out to be, it's the performances that both Theron and Layne deliver that really make the story work. Both actresses not only convey a toughness to their characters, but also reveal their vulnerabilities with both ultimately leaning on each other for comfort. The entire cast delivers performances that are believable along with adding to the thrill and suspense of the story.
The films directing by
Gina Prince Bythewood proves to be solid work overall as she gives the film a mood and atmosphere that feels appropriate for the story. While the films origins are comic book oriented, Bythewood treats it as an afterthought with the overall film not feeling like a typical Hollywood superhero flick that comes from a major studio with it carrying more of a Logan or Wolverine style feel to it. One of the most surprising elements of the film besides its impressive second unit directing, is how much emotion the audience feels for both the story and the characters. The director clearly wants the audience to walk away feeling something for the characters rather than just being mildly entertained by the action, and she succeeds at doing just that here. The action sequences are well put together and solidly executed with them not only being creative, but carrying a sense of excitement and brutality which makes them appealing. The films editing feels both steady and well-balanced from start to finish. Although the story can feel slow moving at times, particularly in the beginning as the characters and plot are being established, the pacing accelerates once the action starts up with the editing doing a fine job of alternating between the films quieter and intimate emotional moments with the characters, as well as the large scale and loud action scenes. The films cinematography comes across as being both noteworthy and visually striking with the outdoor shots of France and the desert being beautifully lit with full brightness, as well as the night and indoor moments having a distinct yet rich style to them. On a technical front, The Old Guard is well-executed and appealing to watch visually with the film having the right look for its story. As far as directing goes, Gina Prince Bythewood largely impresses with her ability to juggle kinetic action with emotional storytelling. She also demonstrates a confidence with being able to work with a ensemble cast of talented actors, along with getting the best performances out of them. She gives the film a look and feel that separates it from most mainstream comic book oriented films of today with a more serious approach to telling its story, that often feels like it dares to challenge its label. One can clearly see the dedication and effort that Bythewood put into making the film as she treats the story as being her baby.
The films screenplay by Greg Rucka (Who created the original comic book storyline and brought in to adapt it on film format) is well-written with the film doing a solid job of introducing the mythology behind the story, as well as positioning it to kick-start a new franchise which Netflix unquestionably is hoping for it to achieve. The characters presented are fairly well-established with the development going specifically to the team of mercenaries with Theron and Layne's characters being the driving force of the story. As well-handled as their characters are along with the rest of Theron's team, the scripts main issue lies with the lack of a true villain for the story given its running time. While Harry Melling does a decent job of making his character effective as being the main antagonist of the story, he often comes across as feeling generic and underdeveloped with his character being nothing particularly groundbreaking in terms of the audience not seeing anything new before with his motives or overall presentation. Given that the mercenaries all possess remarkable healing abilities, Melling's character often doesn't feel as if he poses much of a threat to them and feels like a typical mad scientist found in a science fiction movie, who wants to steal ones special abilities for their own personal gain. Chiwetel Ejiofor's character also feels generic with his characters dilemma feeling like a misguided scientist, who blindly sides with the main villain believing their intentions to be as noble as theirs only to discover the exact opposite with them ultimately regretting their decision. Whereas these character traits feel both formulaic and familiar, they still manage to work within the context of the story. The screenplays narrative and story-structure remain straight-forward for the most part with audiences being able to follow the story without being left confused on what's unfolding in regards to the plot. The flashback sequences that show the main mercenary team in previous time periods, are minimal though effective in giving the audience just enough information needed about Theron's character and her team for the audience to become connected with them without the script feeling overdone in terms of character exposition. The development of the characters for the most part is medium though effective with the most attention being given to Theron and Layne's roles. What makes the script for The Old Guard work so well is how the film explores its themes pertaining to immortality, grief, survival, saving humanity, regret, guilt, and destiny in a way that's both entertaining and thoughtful with the films ultimate message saying how immortality can ultimately be a bad thing, being both a hard-hitting and eye opening one for audiences given all the sequence of events that occurred within the story regarding the teams supernatural abilities. The films scriptwriting is noteworthy in how it goes each of its key main characters moments to shine, while balancing out the pros and cons of immortality before coming to the films eventual conclusion regarding it ultimately doing more harm than good.
As far as Netflix original films go, The Old Guard stands as being one of the stronger ones with it being exciting and overall satisfying to watch. The film isn't without its share of faults with it at times feeling that it doesn't fully live up to the maximum potential, or scope of its story along with the film needing a stronger main antagonist. The script sometimes feels as if it rushes the establishing of the characters to get them introduced to the audience with the promise of further development with the sequel, and the films soundtrack feeling excessively over the top despite being overall effective. Despite those issues, the film still manages to deliver in the entertainment department while establishing a solid foundation for future sequels to build off the story and characters introduced here. The film owes much thanks to Theron and the rest of the cast for adding credibility to the realism of it with Theron's character serving as the guide for taking the audience through the story and getting them engaged with the appeal of her character through her performance before switching over to the side characters in the story. Her work here ends up being the driving force of the film and is what immediately brings the audience into the story from the films opening sequence, while keeping them engaged until the end. Once again, Charlize Theron further demonstrates that she's a natural female action star whose not only extremely appealing and charismatic when she's kicking ass, but looks as if she feels most comfortable when working within the genre. She is the main reason to see this film other than the solid action the film contains and it's intriguing premise. For some, The Old Guard may not do it's premise complete justice but for others, the film will surprise and satisfy with both its watchability as well as its desire to entertain audiences while making them think about the films premise. In an era where comic book films are either Marvel or DC based, it's refreshing to see one that arrives right in the middle of the two worlds with the same intentions to entertain and dazzle while beginning its own set of films that carry their own style and remain separated from each side. For Netflix, the film represents an improvement in quality as well as a confidence that they can spawn their own set of comic book films without being bound to the two competing universes. Though the film may still feel the confinements of being a Netflix original film with the budget being a reported $70 million which is relatively low for a comic book film, the enthusiasm and attention-to-detail that went into the films making more than makes up for its shortcomings. The Old Guard for all intents and purposes, proudly stands as being one of the more surprising hits of 2020, as well as showing Netflix to be continuously growing in regards to its content.
Final Verdict: For comic book fans as well as fans of Charlize Theron, Netflix's The Old Guard is a surprisingly decent piece of popcorn entertainment that will entertain and thrill audiences with both its solid premise and action.
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