The Old Guard 2 is the sequel to the first movie that premiered on Netflix back in 2020. The sequel now comes out five years ago. This time, it’s directed by Victoria Mahoney from a screenplay by Greg Rucka. The film stars Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ngô Thanh Vân, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Uma Thurman, and Henry Golding. Andy and her team of immortal warriors return to protect humanity from a formidable new enemy who threatens their existence.
Five years later, we are finally getting a sequel to one of the most popular movies of the year all due to the pandemic. That’s my only theory as to why we are finally getting a sequel to something no one really asked for, but everyone doesn’t mind due to the film’s quality of star power. I got early access to the film, but have been asked to refrain from sharing my thoughts until the film’s release to avoid spoilers. I am going to take it that it may actually because the film is simply not good.
I genuinely don’t know of anyone, not even a fanbase, who loves the graphic novels the films are based on. While it may have its fanbase, this one delivers exactly what you’d expect between the cast and action. Given how much the story and dialogue dip in this one, you can see where the cast is trying to make up for it while the action is still trying to deliver something worth watching. Even with so many different ways this film tries to expand on its lore, it’s still quite messy in the end.
The film immediately made me concerned with some of the needle drops they were using. It not make the film tonally disjointed, it relies so much on it to the point where it tries to make the film more exciting than what it is. You can’t fool me with adding a song from Gesaffelstein. Take that song out and you get an action-packed scene that’s choreographed and shot well, but has a difficult time transitioning to the next scene. Any time a film uses consistent needle drops over a score of its own shows what kind of film it’s going to be.
I feel like I need to emphasize on the fact that this is coming out five years later once again. When the original first came out, there was something interesting there. Now, the star power is the only thing going for it. There are so many different stories involving different characters all told in less than two hours, which is twenty minutes shorter than the first. You can tell where this one is wanting to expand for more stories to tell, but in the end, it leaves so much more open without making the film actually conclusive.
I think the cast here is doing what they do best: entertain. They are delivering on the kind of action flick you’d expect from it, which is why I am not mad at anyone in front of the screen. Most of the problems come from the derivative script of a sequel that feels like it was pulled out of the 2000’s. I understand these characters are fictional, but if you want us to care about them, why not make the script feel more natural? People don’t talk like this. If the film got the tone right, then I am sure the script would be more passable. Due to the dark nature of its story, the dialogue needed to be more grounded & natural.
Speaking of grounded & natural, the film has a good sense of making the action look that way. It’s when the film leans into the visual effects is when the film once again pulls me out of feeling any sort of severity of the situation. Films as of lately rely way too much on visual effects. It may seem nice to help speed up the production and lower the cost, but it doesn’t make the image look good.
I personally hate knocking on any film. I think viewers will find plenty of enjoy here with the action and cast. Given that it’s taken five years to come out, it makes me question the longevity of this franchise. Is this something Netflix wants to put all of their energy into? There’s clearly not a desire to expand too much since it’s taken five years. Instead of trying to keep this one open-ended, the film could have been longer to better flesh out its stories. At least make it feel more conclusive. Trying to keep this as open-ended just feels too outdated these days.
Overall, The Old Guard 2 should deliver on what people may expect: star power and action. This one just never leaves a lasting impression for its existence. If this came out a few years ago, I’d probably be more interested. I tried to find something worthwhile here, but I found myself having whiplash with the multiple storylines and tonal confusion with the music choices.
VERDICT: 2/5 (Bad)
The Creative Cinematic Collection 
You must be logged in to post a comment.