The Old Guard

Name: The Old Guard
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller, Fantasy
Released: July 10, 2020
Duration: 125 min
Rating: 70
Cast: Adam Basil, Anamaria Marinca, Charlize Theron, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Harry Melling

2020

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 45 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 539 Ratings

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5.9

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5.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 539 Ratings

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The Old Guard

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Movie Details & Credits

Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): July 10, 2020 | Not Rated

Starring: Adam Basil, Anamaria Marinca, Charlize Theron, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Harry Melling, Joey Ansah, KiKi Layne, Luca Marinelli, Marwan Kenzari, Matthias Schoenaerts, Mette Towley, Natacha Karam, Thanh Van Ngo

Summary: Led by a warrior named Andy (Charlize Theron), a covert group of tight-knit mercenaries with a mysterious inability to die have fought to protect the mortal world for centuries. But when the team is recruited to take on an emergency mission and their extraordinary abilities are suddenly exposed, it’s up to Andy and Nile (Kiki Layne), theLed by a warrior named Andy (Charlize Theron), a covert group of tight-knit mercenaries with a mysterious inability to die have fought to protect the mortal world for centuries. But when the team is recruited to take on an emergency mission and their extraordinary abilities are suddenly exposed, it’s up to Andy and Nile (Kiki Layne), the newest soldier to join their ranks, to help the group eliminate the threat of those who seek to replicate and monetize their power by any means necessary. … Expand

Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Thriller, Fantasy

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 125 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Bilge Ebiri

Jul 7, 2020

I watch The Old Guard and try to imagine a new world, one where other comic-book movies are this well made and breathtaking. Read full review

IndieWire Kate Erbland

Jul 3, 2020

Despite the familiarity, The Old Guard manages to be both very grounded and very entertaining, a marriage of expectations and twists unlike little else the genre has inspired even during its most fruitful times. Read full review

David Rooney

Jul 3, 2020

What makes this gripping graphic novel adaptation so distinctive is the trust it places in its audience to stay glued through the quiet, character-building interludes threaded among excitingly varied fight scenes that crescendo in an expertly choreographed showdown. Read full review

Molly Freeman

Jul 3, 2020

What The Old Guard lacks in well-paced, tightly plotted story, it more than makes up for with compelling characters and slick, thrilling fight scenes. Read full review

Sam Adams

Jul 11, 2020

Just let Charlize Theron kick some ass, and leave the thornier moral questions for the sequel. Read full review

Barry Hertz

Jul 3, 2020

There are a few scenes where Theron is an inch away from completely rewriting the proceedings – she just needs a slight jolt in the right direction from her director, a nudge toward chaos. But filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood never quite delivers the inspirational spark her star needs to unleash such fury, and the resulting antics rest somewhere between spectacle and shoulder-shrug. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Jul 10, 2020

The entire affair plays as pro-forma, pre-ordained, pre-digested and pre-dictable. Read full review

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User Reviews

TheEmperor

Jul 10, 2020

Worth the wait! One of the best Netflix movies. An interesting concept and well-paced action made it a thrilling ride.

4 of 35 users found this helpful431

Maawe

Jul 14, 2020

Nice! Badass as well as comics, It could be more scenes with Andy's axe :D
Can't wait for the book two! :)

0 of 8 users found this helpful08

Ozturk2009

Jul 12, 2020

Intriguing extension of the immortals genre. Theron is beautiful, physical and sharp as usual. Big pharma is the baddy which is a little predictable but otherwise some good plot swings and great action. Some corny and unnecessary scenes like the London scene with no people and then hundredsIntriguing extension of the immortals genre. Theron is beautiful, physical and sharp as usual. Big pharma is the baddy which is a little predictable but otherwise some good plot swings and great action. Some corny and unnecessary scenes like the London scene with no people and then hundreds of suits strolling around the corner. Diverse cast, touches of history And a terrific duet by the romantic crusaders. Excellent soundtrack. Good work folks… Expand

0 of 7 users found this helpful07

SoulWarfare

Jul 19, 2020

With more movies constantly being delayed because of the Coronavirus, the only new movies appearing seems to be streaming service movies. The Old Guard is an American superhero (sort of) movie based on the comic book of the same name. It is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood who I'll beWith more movies constantly being delayed because of the Coronavirus, the only new movies appearing seems to be streaming service movies. The Old Guard is an American superhero (sort of) movie based on the comic book of the same name. It is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood who I'll be honest I am not familiar with and also written by Greg Rucka who wrote the comic book. I was very interested in watching this movie after seeing the first trailer as the premise of immortal badasses sounds very interesting. Plus it has Charlize Theron who is awesome and Chiwetel Ejiofor who has always been great in my opinion.

First things I will praise is the main heroes cast. Charlize is still pretty badass as "Andy" and very convincingly so. The new recruit "Nile Freeman" played by KiKi Layne gives a great performance as a sort of POV character for the viewer. The supporting cast is also pretty good with Matthias Schoenaerts as "Booker" giving a very conflicting emotion to being an immortal, Marwan Kenzari as "Joe" who gives a very memorable speech while being very romantic and Luca Marinelli as "Nicky" who is quite the witty guy. Every single one of them is quite charming and from their performance alone can give the audience a sense of their personality. Most of the actors are also great in these action scenes and it is very obvious that these actors threw themselves into practising these action scenes themselves.

The villains in this movie, however, is something I am quite mixed about. Chiwetel Ejiofor plays one of the villain "James Copley" who is meant to be more sympathetic and there is a great emotional performance from him in the third act, comes out as very predictable and plain. Harry Melling from Harry Potter fame as "Steven Merrick" who is the main villain for the second half comes out as over the top and cartooney which contrasts massively with the others who are more grounded and believable.

The action scenes are very clearly inspired by John Wick and are pretty cool to watch albeit they don't do anything new with it. They are filmed a bit weird with a lot of zooms and sometimes random shaky cam although the shakiness isn't Jason Bourne bad and are still visible. My problem is the lack of action scenes. There are not a lot which is kind of disappointing and the trailer pretty much showed all the action scenes in the movie. The premise with the immortals which is one of the reasons why I wanted to watch the movie is generally pretty good and utilised mostly effectively but no character ever loses a limb which is a shame considering you have immortal characters. The rules of their immortality is a bit iffy and not completely explained which kind of irks me a bit and feels a little bit lazy. The story is something I am also a bit mixed about. The first half of the movie with it about training a new immortal "Nile" is really enjoyable. Seeing the conflict between long time immortal "Andy" and new immortal was great and seeing their different opinions about life was interesting. The emotional moments in the movie are great as well. Seeing "Nile" clash with the fact that she can't even die or age and realising she might not ever see her family again was saddening. "Andy" and "Booker" talking about their heart-wrenching past with flashbacks to help illustrate it as well is genuinely great stuff. As I stated before but "James Copley" gives a believable explanation to his motive that is very sympathetic. If this movie did anything right then it was these emotional moments and fleshing out the characters. However, the second half of this movie feels like a cliche of superhero movies and turns this movie into feeling generic. They now have to take down over the top bad guy dude from Harry Potter and this is where the story takes a large dip for me. My final criticism with the movie has got to be the soundtrack. It sucks. The soundtrack contains a lot of pop songs which kind of took me out of the movie as it tends to contrast with the scene that was happening right now. For example, they play a pop song to build up an action scene and it just feels dumb.

Overall, despite my fair amount of criticism, the movie is okay. It doesn't do anything revolutionary or make me come out of it feeling something or thinking about something but I did still have a good time. The movie premise had great ideas but might have worked a lot better as a TV show in my opinion. Still, it does end with the blatant sequel tease and despite it all, I would be interested in watching a sequel.… Expand

3 of 4 users found this helpful31

narthur

Jul 10, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A waste of a good concept. I was expecting something like the manga "AJIN", but this is just an action movie where good guys revive. They dont exploit the inmortality aspect at all and the actions scenes are just poor. One scene, when they are fighting they way out of the lab is full of errors, corpses moving or different guns...… Expand

6 of 7 users found this helpful61

zNeverSleeping

Jul 13, 2020

Todo potencial do filme é ofuscado pela clara decisão de girar tudo em torno do resultado, e não trabalhar na premissa de forma geral. Muito comum por parte da Netflix, diga-se de passagem.

Imortalidade é um tema rico, carregado de ideias desde grandiosidade a melancolia depressiva. DitoTodo potencial do filme é ofuscado pela clara decisão de girar tudo em torno do resultado, e não trabalhar na premissa de forma geral. Muito comum por parte da Netflix, diga-se de passagem.

Imortalidade é um tema rico, carregado de ideias desde grandiosidade a melancolia depressiva. Dito isso, sabemos que a abordagem aqui poderia acontecer de diversas formas. Porém, ao invés de trabalhar temas do gênero, o filme resolve entregar o que a maior parte do publico quer ver e tenta ser vago de toda forma possível, para que qualquer um possa entender o que está se passando na tela.

Primeiro de tudo, os temas abordados não são ruins, mas a forma como eles são apresentados - de maneira vaga e com uma seriedade ilusória - é o que mais me irrita. A obra aborda homossexualidade, emancipação, representatividade negra, melancolia, loucura, solidão etc; e se eu não conhecesse a netflix, diria que os três primeiros temas ditos acima só tem um espaço na obra pra agradar o publico em geral. Não há impacto na trama quanto ao relacionamento de Joe e Nicky; A emancipação da protagonista, Andy, soa forçada e militante, visto que seu desenvolvimento é nulo e nunca fica claro o porque ela é a BOSS - me desculpem, mas umas cenas de ação e o fato de que ela é a mais velha não me convencem. Inclusive, aquela cena onde os personagens explicam o sonho da Nile, quanto ao passado da Andy, é uma forma terrível e conveniente de desenvolvimento. [Não que a obra tenha alguma verossimilhança. A suspensão da descrença não funciona pois ora a obra se leva a serio demais, ora ela é padrão Netflix]. O Plot relacionado ao Sebastiam é tão mal feito que eu me pergunto: se não acontecesse, faria diferença? E também me leva ao questionamento: quem é mais ingenuo, este personagem ou James Copley, que realmente acreditava numa "mafia farmacêutica" [isso soa tão idiota...]. Já o vilão é um estereotipo podre da... industria farmacêutica? da ciência? da loucura humana? Não sei. Parece que a obra não quer ofender ninguém e se perde na caracterização do mesmo.

O filme tenta meramente abordar melancolia, falta de crença e outros temas relacionados. Mas os diálogos são pobres e limitados. O mesmo acontece quando tentam pôr um peso aos personagens - no que se diz respeito a idade deles. Outra coisa que me incomodou foi o "fan service" de citar o Brasil. Isso só prova mais uma vez que cinema autoral na netflix está longe de acontecer em diversas obras. São paulo está longe de ser relevante, mas "vamos mencionar, assim o publico brasileiro fica contente pelos 2s de atenção."

As cenas de luta são bem coreografadas. Porém, senti falta de um melhor trabalho com a cenografia quanto as coreografias. A cinematografia não é muito clara e não passa muito bem a geografia do local. A trilha sonora é peculiar. Não sei muito bem se essa adição de musicas pop funcionam numa obra cinematográfica cujo tema é meramente sombrio.

Por fim, a Netflix escolhe mais uma vez seguir a formula magica do dinheiro, se distanciando cada vez mais do cinema autoral, e tirando a oportunidade de obras que realmente tenham o que dizer e saibam como o fazer.… Expand

5 of 6 users found this helpful51

Game_Critical

Aug 31, 2021

Have you ever seen Highlander? Now imagine everything good about it stripped away and defiled. What's left is this movie.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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