The Old Guard
netflix
It’s hard to believe that it’s only been a year since the releases of the record-smashing blockbuster Avengers: Endgame and the destructive and deconstructive Amazon Prime hit series The Boys; it is even harder to believe that the momentum for superhero media heading into 2020 has to come to a screeching halt. NETFLIX’s The Old Guard was once supposed to be released in a busy spring-summer blockbuster season with guaranteed hits like Wonder Woman 1984 and Black Widow, but now it could possibly be the only live-action superhero film released for the summer of 2020. This alternative to Marvel and DC action extravaganza, with the star power of Charlize Theron behind it, is now an oasis for superhero fans who have been in a drought since the release of Birds of Prey.
The Old Guard is not NETFLIX’s first time offering alternative options for superhero fans craving something different from the blockbuster offerings of Marvel and DC. Series such as The Umbrella Academy, Raising Dion and their own Marvel adaptations garnered praise and attention for going into darker, more philosophical territory with the superhero genre – even if the shows have some noticeable shortcomings. The Old Guard is in the same ballpark as those films, with more down-to-earth action compared to the wild CGI battles of standard superhero movies and much more invested in the character dynamics of superpowered individuals. The Old Guard has its superheroes saving the day and getting into fights, but also burdens them with their extraordinary gift in a study of what happens when you can live for centuries rather than decades.
The film drops the viewer right into the action with an initial shot of bloody, bullet-ridden corpses with a narrator asking if this particular death will be “the one.” The Old Guard plays more like a spy/military thriller with a team of trained individuals in a foreign country, not too far off from Extraction, another NETFLIX action-thriller released earlier this year. It raises an eyebrow when the four main characters – Andy, Booker, Joe and Nicky – are shown with both military equipment and medieval weaponry, seemingly out of nowhere, as the first act of the film turns into a hodgepodge of Sicario, John Wick and Wonder Woman. Complete with shaky-cam shots of characters holding firearms and action sequences split by jump cuts, The Old Guard reveals its major weakness early with by-the-book generic action. The immortality/healing factor gimmick feels criminally underused, with so many sequences of quick slicing and dicing, shootouts and judo moves with little visual flair or kinetic flow. There will not be much to impress those familiar with the action films featuring nigh-invincible characters, such as Deadpool and Wolverine. It is very clear that this is director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s first foray into the action film genre after making dramas such as Love & Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees and Beyond the Lights.
Although it does not offer much to anyone looking for just a good action film, Prince-Bythewood’s eye for directing characters and writer Greg Rucka’s love and genuine care for the characters help immensely in all the scenes building up to the action. The dynamic for the main characters brought together by a mutual curse who are the only people capable of understanding the weight it carries is intriguing, brought to life by a cast known to be able to bring something special to a role. KiKi Layne works as the self-insert for the audience, learning about their world alongside the viewers in a role that proves she’s an up-and-coming actor worth keeping an eye on. Chiwetel Ejiofor is a valuable asset as supporting antagonist and extremely believable when he reveals why he betrayed the four in the first place; while Dudley Dursley himself, Harry Melling, hams it up as the hateable yet underdeveloped Martin Shkreli-like villain Merrick. The dialogue can sometimes feel heavy with Nolan-esque tropes and Russo-esque one-liners, but the film can be surprisingly strong in exploring its themes of fates worse than death, religion with gods amongst men and the different ways the characters deal with their burdens. Scenes such as Quynh’s execution and Joe professing his love for Nicky prove the potential of the premise, but it still wrestles with a lot of the generic execution that bogs the film down considerably.
The Old Guard can be hard to sell with how painfully generic it can be in the departments of action, settings, dialogue and soundtrack, but when a moment in the film puts its trust on the actors and director, it can pay off. The film does have interesting character dynamics and has impressive sequences to bring the exposition to life that appeals to those looking for more drama in superhero films – which is odd to write given how invincible, overpowered characters can usually suck out the drama in a work. Prince-Bythewood and Rucka prove that you can have interesting stories and characters, despite whatever ridiculous power you have to overcome, but also prove that succumbing to genre tropes can, and will, muddle that interest. The Old Guard is most likely a work that will appeal the most for people who do not like superheroes or action films in the first place, but it will not be as refreshing for people who do enjoy superhero media.
