I would gladly watch a sequel to The Old Guard

Story

The old Guard tells the story of a group of mercenaries with regenerative powers, meaning they don’t die even when faced with mortal injuries.

During the course of the movie, their identity is exposed and they must fight to cover their tracks while taking a new member under their wing.

The story, while simple is shrouded in mystery. We don’t know why this specific group of people have these abilities or anything about them except what the movie tells us. And without tight story constraints, the creative crew behind the movie have the freedom to play around with the lore if there is a sequel (which I am 100% down for.)

Charlize Theron kicks ass, but you didn’t need me to tell you that. If you have seen Atomic Blonde (which you should) or Mad Max Fury Road (again, you should), then you know that she is no stranger to action movies. The best thing about her performance here is that there is duality. Sure, Andy is a badass but there is a person there. She may be immortal but she’s still a person who has feelings and has no problem expressing them. Andy is a little jaded and world-weary, but she is also heartfelt. caring person and it’s nice to see both sides of her.

I haven’t seen anything else that Kiki Layne is in (I can already hear you going “She was in If Beale Street Could Talk” but I haven’t seen it yet, but now I will) And I am going to rectify that right now. Her performance in this movie is really good. She’s the audience proxy so we are seeing a lot of what is going on through her eyes and because of that, she is the most relatable character in the movie, without being doe-eyed or helpless. She has the most interesting arch in the movie and I want to see where they go with this character.

I didn’t watch the trailer before I watched the movie so I had no idea what role Chiwetel Ejiofor was going to play in this movie and I’m not going to say I was disappointed but I kinda wish he did a little more. He’s a really talented actor and his performance in this was good but I wasn’t blown away by it.

The rest of the cast do a great job, especially Marwan Kenzai who plays Joe, apart from the main characters, his is my favourite. There’s an interesting contrast between his soft-spoken nature and some of his more ruthless actions. Booker is also a really interesting character and Matthias Schoenaerts did a really good job. Same goes for Luca Marinelli who plays Nicky. The one performance I didn’t particularly like was that of the antagonist. At times, it came across as a little cartoonish. I’m not going to blame Harry Melling for that, I’m just going to chalk it up to the writing.

Writing/Direction

Everyone has mentioned that this movie was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood ( a black woman) and I am going to do the exact same thing. THIS MOVIE WAS DIRECTED BY GINA PRINCE-BYTHEWOOD, A BLACK WOMAN! It is incredibly rare to have a black woman helm a project like this and because of that, I was going to support the movie anyway. It makes me even happier to say that this movie has great direction. Gina and the writers crafted a tight-knit story with realistic and likeable characters barring the antagonist. That is why we relate to them so much and why I would like to see more of them. There is enough here to satisfy innate curiosity but not so much that you are being spoon-fed all the information.

As mentioned earlier, the movie doesn’t stop to explain things to you. And I like that, sometimes you can get weighed down with explanations and it can take away from the viewing experience. That doesn’t mean you don’t get exposition, it’s there but the movie doesn’t grind to a halt because of it. There is more than enough action to balance everything out.

A lot of reviews have focused on the action, and now I see why. The fight choreography is really solid, and I would like to know how much the actors did on their own because I am willing to bet that they were very involved. There are some quick cuts and shaky cam here and there but it doesn’t detract from the sequences you’re watching. The best fight scenes are the ones with hand-to-hand combat. That’s where you can see what the characters can do. Each person has their own unique fighting style which makes each fight scene interesting. They are all different.

CGI/Set Design

There is CGI in this movie, you see it, but it’s not bad, on the contrary, it looks really good. There are multiple scenes where you see bones mending themselves but it all looks authentic and never pulls you out of the movie, mostly because it is used sparingly.

The Old Guard overall looks really sleek. I use that word a lot in reviews but it’s a great way to describe it. The overall colour palette is warm and the filmmakers didn’t use colours to advance the narrative. The film as a whole looks really nice with scenic establishing shots and an overall polished look.

Score/Soundtrack

The music is not the focus of the movie and that was very evident while I watched the movie. There is a score present but it is not at the forefront of the movie. There are some notable songs used like Silence by Marshmello. Those songs are used sparingly and at moments that make sense with the flow of the story. Do they always fit the overall tone? No, but it doesn’t detract from the movie as a whole.

Overall Thoughts

The Old Guard is a summer blockbuster in every sense of the word. It has the spectacle that we have to come to expect while also delivering good performances and an interesting story. And given the way this one ended, there may or may not be a sequel and I would definitely watch it. There is an interesting story here and I am curious to see where it goes.

Originally published at http://www.thecinematicaficionado.com on July 18, 2020.