The Old Guard has all sorts of potential to become a movie franchise. First things first … how is the initial film that debuts on Netflix July 10?
It’s actually rather entertaining. As it is based on a graphic novel, here’s hoping the response will be as huge for The Old Guard on Netflix—as it was for Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. The world has embraced the Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams musical comedy with heaps of heart. Although the Charlize Theron starring actioner will draw a different audience, it is certainly worthy of being the next enjoyable chapter in this outrageously different blockbuster summer movie season.
Theron is Andy and she and her team of warriors, that includes Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts), Joe (Marwan Kenzari), and Nicky (Luca Marinelli), traverse the globe seeking to right wrongs that no government of military force can handle. They have a leg up on any violent and horrific situations as … they cannot die. They are immortal and this particular team has been together for practically a millennia.
One night, they each share the same dream, about a woman, Nile (KiKi Layne), a Marine, who has perished in Afghanistan. It is something that hasn’t happened in centuries, and why, we don’t know. But what the team knows is that time is of the essence. They need to find her, explain to her what is happening—i.e. why she died but didn’t—and get her away from government authorities who will likely want to test her like a lab rat.
Meanwhile, our unable to be killed mercenaries become exposed due to a double-cross that almost saw the end of their existence. Instead, it hardened their resolve to tie up all loose ends and simultaneously deliver justice and save their own hides so that they can live to fight another day. Who is after them, you ask? Well, that would be our villain, a pharmaceutical titan named Merrick (Harry Melling). Previously, the existence of these timeless fighters was a rumor, an urban myth. When he achieves physical proof that they are real, he wants them in a lab and to sacrifice all for science… and the unyielding desire for the human race to cease the aging process.
As a story, it is compelling, albeit a tad monotonous on occasion. It’s not the tightest ship that director Gina Prince-Bythewood (the wickedly entertaining Beyond the Lights) has crafted, but those action sequences are intense and the bond of this superhuman team is palpable and almost touching. Particularly impressive is how Prince-Bythewood illustrates what occurs when these warriors come back from catastrophic injuries. It isn’t painted as part of a Zen-like healing process as other films have done prior. In The Old Guard, bones healing, bullet holes pushing their metallic intruder out as the hole then becomes whole, is all excruciating. As one says, “just because we’re immortal doesn’t mean we don’t feel pain.” We experience every single ache and physical trauma.
The South African born actress certainly commands in the action milieu. Her work on Atomic Blonde and Mad Max: Fury Road is off the charts. What she accomplishes as Andy is another spoke in her wheel of awesomeness. Her Andy is complex. As she plays the character, it comes off more hardened, which is understanding given her extended past. Rightfully, there are merely a few moments of her expressing emotion, usually stemming from recollections of how fellow immortals’ deaths went down. To say it weighs on her conscience is a gross understatement. As Theron plays it, Andy is not permitted those moments as the leader of this crew. Leading it has weighed on her as well, all that responsibility with nothing but danger on their landscape. When those emotive milliseconds do emerge, it is subtle, and in the hands of the Oscar winner, compellingly riveting.
There are softer moments that serve as the breathers audiences need in between tension-filled scenes. It’s so welcomed and fascinating hearing the gang waxing poetic about days on beaches across the world. Those memories across human history waif powerfully in the air, amongst the explosions and mayhem. Through recalling stories of their past, this crew is able to bask in the gift that is life. That is powerful, especially since more often than not one gets the sense that these mercenaries on occasion resent the present that is immortality.
The rest of her crew are impeccably cast. There is a support network there that feels innate and indicative of a connection between souls that dates back centuries. Layne is a revelation. She is our eyes and ears into this world. It’s as new to her as it is to us. What the actress does with her first few minutes of screen time is the key to whether this entire picture will work. Audiences need to identify with her and thanks to the talented young actress, we are right there with her as she awakes from dying. Her throat was cut in battle, yet she emerges from slumber without even a scar. Nile is a soldier and comes from a long lineage of soldiers, which makes her incredibly appealing to this crew.
Not that they have any choice. That part is never quite explained. The inner workings of how this immortality works or why each one was chosen, is never truly addressed. The thing is the five people who now share this gift or curse—depending on how you look at it—themselves cannot discern their role in the world. What is compelling and achieved brilliantly by screenwriter Greg Rucka (who co-wrote the graphic novel with Leandro Fernandez) is how the element of fate having some sort of higher power in our destinies. It is established early that Andy, for example, does not believe in G-d, and in fact thinks it’s more of a magic show for the masses than anything else. There is an inherent feeling that something more powerful than any of these battle-hardened warriors is at hand with the coming and going of previous warriors, and of course our newbie.
The cost of what these folks do is also beautifully illustrated. As is the case in any vampire movie or its ilk where the main characters can live forever, this eternity sentence comes with a price—watching loved ones and those you care about die while you stay the same age. The other side of that coin is also explored by the fact that these people cannot stay in people’s lives for very long. It doesn’t take too many years until it is obvious that someone is not aging. Therefore, it is painted as a lonely endeavor. One member of this crew speaks to being on their own for several centuries before hooking up with Andy.
That’ll take a toll on the ole mental health.
The Old Guard comes to a thrilling conclusion but firmly leaves the door open for more chapters. As this is based on a graphic novel series, there is much material to be had. Here’s hoping that audiences embrace the Guard so we will get more justice-driven stories, perhaps with some more flashbacks to further flush out the history of these supernatural soldiers.
Grade: B