Netflix’s ‘The Old Guard’ is an Entertaining Flick
Could it be? Is there finally a Netflix original that engrossed me from start to finish after months of mediocrity? Yes. Now, while this film isn’t the best I’ve seen from Netflix, it’s still a fun watch.
Based off the comic book series of the same name, The Old Guard is about a group of immortal mercenaries led by Andy (Charlize Theron). For hundreds of years, they’ve fought in wars, killed terrorists, and helped humanity in other ways. However, being immortal comes with a heavy price.
As mentioned before, this is a fun film to watch. It’s not groundbreaking or anything, but it has great action, interesting characters, and a neat premise. I thought at first, ‘oh, they’re all immortal which means they can’t die, so what are the stakes?’ But further along you realize that there are stakes. While the mercenaries want to help people, they have to hide their strange abilities so they’re not exploited for it. Thus, the group have to stay in hiding so no one realizes they’re essentially Wolverine.
I haven’t read the comics so I can’t say how faithful this film is, but it definitely got me intrigued in the series. Again, the plot isn’t groundbreaking, nor does it have many surprises. It’s actually a tad predictable, but if the film’s engaging it’s nothing to really nitpick about.
Though, there are some things I would like to nitpick. Some of the dialogue can come off as cheesy, and the music during the fight scenes is jarring. I don’t understand why so many movies nowadays use pop music, it doesn’t work.
I especially hate it when it’s used in trailers, but I digress.
As far as diversity goes, there’s solid representation. Andy is a strong female lead and kicks major butt. She sometimes fights with an ancient axe and it’s awesome. We also got Nile (Kiki Layne) a POC solider. She’s the latest to become immortal, and has some solid character growth. Two other main characters, Joe (Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky (Luca Marinelli) are a gay couple, which is unique to see in an action film. Though, I admit that one scene between them is corny, but other than that, they have nice interactions.
Actually, all the characters have nice interactions. You get the sense that the team of mercenaries have worked together for a long time, and there’s decent down time between them. The film isn’t constant violence, it takes breaks to show character development. Though, not all the characters are solid. I found the main antagonist, Merrick (Harry Melling) very underwhelming. He reminds me of Lex Luthor from Batman v Superman and that’s not exactly a comparison to be proud of.
Overall, The Old Guard is an entertaining film that’ll leave you wanting more. Fortunately, the film heavily hints at a sequel so fingers crossed that Netflix green lights it. The Old Guard certainly has its flaws, with the dialogue being its weakest point, but the plot and action scenes definitely makes up for it. I look forward to its sequel and might even check out the comic book series.
