The Old Guard: A Review of Netflix’s Immortal Action Flick
A covert team led by Andy (Charlize Theron) is dispatched to Afghanistan on a rescue mission orchestrated by Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a former CIA operative. Their objective: to save a group of kidnapped children. However, upon arrival, they are ambushed and brutally gunned down. Miraculously, they rise from the dead, unscathed, and retaliate, eliminating their attackers. But the children are nowhere to be found. It turns out Copley has betrayed them, capturing their resurrection on video, intending to sell their secret to Merrick (Harry Melling), a pharmaceutical mogul seeking to develop a cure for death. The immortal warriors are not keen on becoming lab rats. Adding to their woes, a new immortal emerges: a young U.S. Army soldier who discovers her immortality after being fatally stabbed. They must find her and bring her into the fold.
A Familiar Premise
On paper, “The Old Guard” presents an intriguing concept: a team of soldiers who have lived for centuries, battling evil throughout history. Some hail from antiquity, others from the Crusades, and some from the Napoleonic Wars. However, the novelty quickly fades when you realize it treads similar ground to “Highlander,” but with less depth. “Highlander” boasted a rich internal mythology and a compelling exploration of its themes.
Lacking Depth and Originality
In “The Old Guard,” immortality is merely a plot device. The historical context is relegated to brief flashbacks reminiscent of “Xena: Warrior Princess,” but without the fun. The characters’ timeless existence is explored through tedious dialogues about their weariness of life. The mythology serves as a setup for potential sequels, echoing a fatalistic sentiment: they are alive because destiny wills it. The film seems more interested in highlighting the characters’ sexual orientation than delving into their historical experiences.
Unconvincing Character Development
The characters’ ennui feels less like a consequence of their immortality and more like a tired cliché. Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman” offered a more nuanced perspective, suggesting that humans, even after millennia, are not eager to die. “The Old Guard” struggles with its ideological underpinnings. The villain is a transhumanist businessman who seeks to cure humanity of all diseases using the immortals’ DNA. A noble goal, one might think. But the film resorts to a tired trope: he is a capitalist, and therefore, his motives are inherently suspect.
Action Without Flair
Of course, “The Old Guard” is not meant to be a philosophical treatise. But even as a B-movie action flick, it falls short. It lacks the visual flair of “Extraction,” another Netflix offering, which, while not exceptional, at least showcased impressive stunt work and dynamic direction. “The Old Guard,” directed by the filmmaker behind “The Secret Life of Bees,” suffers from choppy editing that undermines the fight choreography. Even Charlize Theron’s formidable presence cannot salvage the lackluster direction.