Despite having only arrived five years ago, 2020 feels in a lot of ways as if it were a century from another era, wherein a global pandemic wreaked havoc on the human race and irrevocably altered the world, never mind the entertainment industry. The temporary shuttering of movie houses led to more widespread digital on-demand releases, a market that had already grown oversaturated with an increasing number of streaming services. Long story short, it was hard out there for new releases to make any sort of impression, doubly so as they were dumped into a suddenly deep sea of streaming. So some kudos must be paid to The Old Guard for standing out among the pack. Originally based on a graphic novel, this tale of Highlander-esque mercenaries proved to be a decent enough time for a night in on the couch, even allegedly making a considerable splash on those elusive Netflix numbers, warranting a sequel into production. After several years of development, we now have The Old Guard 2, which picks up shortly after the first film ended, following Andromache of Scythia and her ragtag team of unkillable warriors. But rather than build off the foundation established in the previous film to deliver something truly epic, The Old Guard 2 largely remains stuck in neutral, delving deep into the lore of its characters while teasing at confrontations that never quite come to fruition.
Picking up where the previous film’s end credits tag left off, punished immortal Quỳnh has been freed from her watery grave, relieved of a lifetime of drowning and resurrecting on the ocean floor in perpetuity. Her savior turns out to be Discord (Uma Thurman), the world’s eldest immortal, who teams up with Quỳnh to seek revenge on those who betrayed her. Meanwhile, it’s been six months since the events of The Old Guard, and Andy (Charlize Theron), now mortal, leads her team — consisting of immortals Nile (KiKi Freeman), Joe (Marwan Kenzari), and Nicky (Luca Marinelli), along with recently recruited ex-CIA agent James (Chiwetel Ejiofor) — on a mission raiding a weapons depot in Croatia. Taking over directorial duties this time around is Victoria Mahoney (whose previous feature was her debut, 2011’s Yelling to the Sky), who does a fine job of re-establishing the camaraderie and superpowers of Andy’s team, who brush off injuries while operating with deadly efficiency. Thumb hacked off? Just reattach it. Leg mangled in a car accident? It’ll heal in a few seconds. The Old Guard 2 commences on a high note, delivering an engaging action sequence that sets up a promising feature to come.
Sadly, that feature never arrives. Once the introductions are out of the way and pleasantries have been exchanged, The Old Guard 2 grinds to a halt, eschewing much in the way of action or thrills to explore instead the history of the immortals, which includes the addition of Tuah (Henry Golding) to the roster, a scholarly immortal who has been constructing a Library of Alexandria of sorts to catalogue the history of his people. Also returning to the fold is Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts), sentenced to exile in the previous feature, now apprehended by Discord and Quỳnh as part of their plan to enact revenge on Andy. Andy’s mortality is arguably the most interesting angle of the feature, as there are plenty of opportunities for a centuries-old assassin to suddenly reckon with the fragility of life, but the screenplay by Greg Rucka (who wrote the first film) and Sarah L. Walker offers no such avenues, preferring to devote much of the story to Nile, whose status as the youngest immortal may be the key to “curing” their race of people. The Old Guard 2 also offers plenty of globetrotting, setting sequences in Paris, Italy, Seoul, and Jakarta, but it lacks a complete sense of adventure, trudging through one scene of scaffolding after another.
Add to those issues the following: conflict is regrettably sporadic in The Old Guard 2; there’s a brief mid-movie scuffle with Andy and Quỳnh that features a needle drop ripped directly from John Wick: Chapter 4, emphasizing the lack of originality or effort here; and the finale takes place in a profoundly generic nuclear facility. Moments that should have landed wind up anonymous. Much is also made about the threat of Discord’s existence, and Thurman’s involvement has been heavily pushed in the marketing, hoping the sight of the actor wielding a sword will flock Kill Bill fans in droves to The Old Guard 2. In reality, the villain mostly slinks about in the shadows, offering one brief skirmish with Andy in the climax before retreating, promising to return for the sequel. And that’s really all The Old Guard 2 amounts to: laborious setup for a payoff intended in a future installment. Here’s hoping 2030 will at least offer something semi-satisfying on that front.
DIRECTOR: Victoria Mahoney; CAST: Charlize Theron, Henry Golding, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Uma Thurman; DISTRIBUTOR: Netflix; STREAMING: July 2; RUNTIME: 1 hr. 47 min.
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