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drwexThe Netflix adaption of the comic is, I'm told, less dark than its original - which I have not read. Taken on its own, then, this is a really unusual buddy/mentor movie with an SFnal twist and a great cast. (4/5 stars mostly for the lame villain)
The core of the story is Andy, played by Charlize Theron. Andy is the leader of a small band of immortal warriors, working in present day as mercenaries. Andy is the oldest of the team, and the most tired and cynical. She's seen everyone she loved taken from her, and despite the team's attempts to make the world a better place she's increasingly convinced that it's all futile.
In the world of this story, immortals just happen. Nobody knows why - one day you should be dead but instead you wake up. And can't die... until one day your body stops repairing itself and that's it. The lack of explanation or understanding leads to a sense of futility and fatality. Like, none of us asked to be born and none of us know when we'll die - just one day it'll happen. The Old Guard are that stretched out over centuries.
The action of the story centers around the "birth" of a new immortal, a young Marine in Afghanistan who should have died but doesn't. Andy and her team need to get to this woman before the villain, Merrick (played by Harry Melling), does. Merrick is a biotech genius megalomaniac who wants to discover the immortals' secret for his own commercial profit. As noted, this is the weakest part of the film. Merrick is exactly a comic-book villain and he exists solely to give us someone unambiguous to hate so we can watch as Andy kicks his ass.
The young immortal is Nile, played by KiKi Layne. Nile knows nothing of herself now, and nothing of this team. Andy is forced to crack open the built-up shell of cynicism and detachment to take in, care for, and help train this newcomer. Integrating a new person into a centuries-old team is not easy and nothing about the circumstances makes it easier. Andy's reluctant acceptance of her role as the old mentor, playing against Nile's young energetic transformation from her old life to her new, is solid. The film wants to keep things moving - it's an action flick after all - so we don't get as much screen time for these two as I would have liked. They're both authentic and they both captured my heart in different ways.
It's also worth noting that this film is queer AF. Andy is at least bi, and we learn the love of her life was another woman. The major on-screen romance is between two men of the team - Joe and Nicky (Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli, both well-known in Europe but not much in America). The two portray men who are still passionately in love with each other despite being together for so long. It's refreshing because we don't normally get gay love stories in our SF action films nor love stories that aren't about or with the main character. Just as with the Andy/Nile mentor/mentee relationship, this one gets less screen time than I would have liked but the script and the acting sell it authentically.
Also worth mentioning is Chiwetel Ejiofor's Copley, a super-spook who has been tracking the team in the present and uncovering its past. The way he and Andy interact is both surprising and satisfying. Andy is still the hub of the movie, and Copley is a fine spoke.
The core of the story is Andy, played by Charlize Theron. Andy is the leader of a small band of immortal warriors, working in present day as mercenaries. Andy is the oldest of the team, and the most tired and cynical. She's seen everyone she loved taken from her, and despite the team's attempts to make the world a better place she's increasingly convinced that it's all futile.
In the world of this story, immortals just happen. Nobody knows why - one day you should be dead but instead you wake up. And can't die... until one day your body stops repairing itself and that's it. The lack of explanation or understanding leads to a sense of futility and fatality. Like, none of us asked to be born and none of us know when we'll die - just one day it'll happen. The Old Guard are that stretched out over centuries.
The action of the story centers around the "birth" of a new immortal, a young Marine in Afghanistan who should have died but doesn't. Andy and her team need to get to this woman before the villain, Merrick (played by Harry Melling), does. Merrick is a biotech genius megalomaniac who wants to discover the immortals' secret for his own commercial profit. As noted, this is the weakest part of the film. Merrick is exactly a comic-book villain and he exists solely to give us someone unambiguous to hate so we can watch as Andy kicks his ass.
The young immortal is Nile, played by KiKi Layne. Nile knows nothing of herself now, and nothing of this team. Andy is forced to crack open the built-up shell of cynicism and detachment to take in, care for, and help train this newcomer. Integrating a new person into a centuries-old team is not easy and nothing about the circumstances makes it easier. Andy's reluctant acceptance of her role as the old mentor, playing against Nile's young energetic transformation from her old life to her new, is solid. The film wants to keep things moving - it's an action flick after all - so we don't get as much screen time for these two as I would have liked. They're both authentic and they both captured my heart in different ways.
It's also worth noting that this film is queer AF. Andy is at least bi, and we learn the love of her life was another woman. The major on-screen romance is between two men of the team - Joe and Nicky (Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli, both well-known in Europe but not much in America). The two portray men who are still passionately in love with each other despite being together for so long. It's refreshing because we don't normally get gay love stories in our SF action films nor love stories that aren't about or with the main character. Just as with the Andy/Nile mentor/mentee relationship, this one gets less screen time than I would have liked but the script and the acting sell it authentically.
Also worth mentioning is Chiwetel Ejiofor's Copley, a super-spook who has been tracking the team in the present and uncovering its past. The way he and Andy interact is both surprising and satisfying. Andy is still the hub of the movie, and Copley is a fine spoke.
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Date: 2020-09-28 01:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-09-28 01:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-09-28 01:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-11-18 01:55 am (UTC)Spoilers in comments are OK
Date: 2020-11-18 03:37 am (UTC)Re: Spoilers in comments are OK
Date: 2020-11-18 04:17 am (UTC)2, is Queen? Quinn? an independent agent? What's her deal? Or was she freed in the intervening 6 months and sent to find Booker?
Re: Spoilers in comments are OK
Date: 2020-11-18 05:26 am (UTC)It's also not clear whether they lose their immortality all at once or over time. Andy does heal, and she survives being shot by Booker, but doesn't heal up instantly anymore. It may be that she's losing it slowly, or it may be a temporary thing.
Quynh (I had to look up the spelling) is Andy's former partner/lover. The one who was taken and entombed in the iron coffin under the sea. There's dialog in the movie about how long the team searched for her and couldn't find her. The question of "what's her deal" would presumably be the theme of the next movie. She finds Booker (the subtitles tell us) six months after he's exiled from the group. We don't know how or why, yet.