The Old Guard
— This sounds like it may just be another weak attempt to grab an audience of groupies of graphic novels and immortals. Ends up, it’s better than that. Maybe not Anne Rice good, but a cut above those relying on sex and special effects instead of character development and storyline. The beauty of “The Old Guard” is that it does have a motley, not really likeable, group of immortals, whose leader is suffering a kind of job burnout and thinking the human race may no longer be salvageable. The budget is obviously lower than if Disney had contracted with Jon Favreau, Ryan Coogler, or the Russo Brothers, but that may work to “The Old Guard’s” advantage, allowing for more complex characters and time for tenderness. In one scene, there’s a declaration of love that is unlike anything you’d expect and puts importance in self-discovery and tenderness in addition to safeguarding the world. In the Marvel universe, superheroes seem to have one defining moment they keep churning over and over. In this film, the cast members have more complex characters and we get a better sense not just of their defining moment, but what led up to it and how they’ve handled things since. The film suffers about two thirds of the way into it when you begin to sense they’re leaving their options open for sequels, a series, and/or contract negotiations with Charlize Theron. I suspect those who want to compare film versions to graphic novel versions could take issue with some adjustments but, let’s face it, when the medium changes, it isn’t fair to expect the story not to change too.
[Netflix streaming.]
