The Old Guard

At first glance Old Guard looked like a totally great action movie but it is quite the opposite. It is totally dumb starting with its premise, dominated by extremely unpleasant Charlize Theron but which has an unexpectedly quite solid fighting scenes. What can I say – Old Guard isn’t Mad Max for Charlize to behave in the same way to achieve a totally different result. (07/15/2020)

The trailers didn’t interest me much, and I was quite worried about the story. In the end, the film didn’t turn out very well, in my opinion. Sure, Charlize Theron physically prepared for her role again; I watched a few videos, and it’s clear she dedicated a lot of time to preparation, with choreography that looked decent. However, when the final product turns into an epileptic spectacle during action sequences due to the cameraman and editor, all that effort goes to waste. Truly, the action wasn’t impressive and was weak in every respect. Besides Charlize, there’s no real connection with the other characters; the supporting cast plays a role akin to a fifth wheel. Believe it or not, despite such criticism, the film had a few decent scenes with above-average potential. The main plot setup was well done, but as the film progressed towards its end, the number of questions grew, and the script became a sieve. I don’t even want a sequel; I can vividly imagine that no drastic changes would occur. And the first one simply isn’t good. That’s a FACT. I give it 43%. P.S. The film comes with one of the worst soundtracks in recent times, which further drags it down. (07/17/2020)

Greg Rucka just reels off stories like this, one after the other. The Old Guard has excellent subject matter. The idea has potential, but the product doesn’t fully realize it. The action is fairly solid, but the music-video-style visuals are disappointing and the R&B soundtrack kills every other scene. Charlize looks great with an ax and, if they had focused more on the past, this could have turned out to be exceptionally good movie. As it stands, it is just a reasonably good TV movie that promises a more entertaining sequel. (07/11/2020)

If Charlize would kiss the pharmacist who treats her shoulder, this movie’s circle of bizarreness would be closed. The Old Guard is an odd mix of Bram Stoker’s existential motifs, almost parodically overwrought racial, gender and LGBT correctness, and every possible cliché of the action and sci-fi genres, all with excessive focus on the emotions and motivations of the characters, which is sometimes effective and sometimes silly. However, the result is still better and more cohesive than another recent Netflix team/buddy flick…you know, that one by Bay. (07/29/2020)

After Extraction, another big budget action movie with a big star. Unfortunately, this time behind the camera is not a former stuntman, but the director of the drama The Secret Life of Bees and the romance Love & Basketball. But enough, I'm not going to make fun of Gina Prince-Bythewood, she ironically deserves to be one of the few to be praised. At least a little. The action scenes aren't all bad, and while they lose out to today's cutting edge, they never turn into a confused mess. Otherwise, however, it's a dud. Although the plot revolves around a bunch of immortals who have been through the centuries, fought in various wars on every continent, and are depressed that all their loved ones have died, none of this is able to sell The Old Guard to the audience. And all the heartfelt outpourings about how they're alone in the world, immortality being a curse and all, get increasingly annoying as the runtime goes on, because there's not much else The Old Guard addresses. Sure, Charlize Theron is cool, and the rest of the team tries their best too, but it doesn't change the fact that more than any of the characters and their fate, I wondered when the curry on the stove would get finished. A minor league spectacle in every way. (07/12/2020)