Gina Prince-Bythewood’s new Netflix movie sees Charlize Theron leads a small band of immortal people against a corporation that wants to profit from their ability.
Amidst the trend of making flashy superhero movies from the Justice League to Avengers, director Gina Prince-Bythewood opted to direct this self-effacing superhero movie that would rather tell the human side of being a superhero than their responsibilities.
“The Old Guard” is about a group of immortal mercenaries, headed by Andromache of Scythia or Andy (Charlize Theron), as they fight off an evil corporation that wants to monetize their immortality. Joining them is an ex-US Marine, Nile Freeman (KiKi Layne), who's unable to come into terms with her newfound ability. In their mission to liberate themselves from this unsurmountable threat, all of them must face their realities including their mortality.
“The Old Guard” is an unusual entry to the catalog of superhero movies. Compare to its predecessors, this movie is rather unostentatious with its approach, focusing solely on the psyche of its heroes whose ability is immortality and putting the whole save-the-world cliche at the backseat. This change of pace and choice of narrative brought out the best of this movie simply because it works.
"The Old Guard" is different because it's grounded to its reality. It focuses heavily on real-life problems than fictional ones. To put it simply, the movie doesn't feel like it's a superhero movie at all even if it's considered as one. There is no end of the world shenanigans or otherworldly creatures. It, instead, touch on topics such as capitalism, violence, and mortality though never in great lengths.
That is my concern with “The Old Guard” as it shows the potential to take a firm stand on the topics it insinuates, but somehow it refuses to expand its argument. For me, the movie just lacks the depth required to make the narrative compelling. Though the premise is intriguing and the action is exhilarating, yet it all looks flat if the motive of both villain and hero is shallow.
Despite that, I enjoyed “The Old Guard.” I believe the movie did just enough to expand its future and to earn that pre-credit scene. Gina Prince-Bythewood's humble attempt to reconstruct the superhero genre to touch on it's more human aspect is a welcome undertaking. Though, admittedly, she still has a long way to go to create a significant impact on the genre. Something that will take more than just one movie.
1.5/5
