With an assortment of production issues, The Old Guard 2 finally reaches screens five years after the original. Shooting began back in 2022 but it has taken until now for it to reach the screen. Sets going on fire and regime changes at Netflix are just a couple of the challenges the production had to face, but finally we can see for ourselves if all that effort was worth it.
Picking up roughly six months after the first film, Andy (Charlize Theron) is struggling with now being mortal. Hardly having the time to deal with this ordeal she is faced with the return of former companion Quỳnh (Veronica Ngo), who 500 years prior was captured and imprisoned in an Iron Maiden. Dropped to the bottom of the ocean, she has spent centuries drowning to only then revive. She has been let out of her watery prison by Discord (Uma Thurman), who is reportedly the first immortal. Discord convinces Quỳnh to seek revenge on Andy for her seeming abandonment of her, although throughout the film her own agenda is slowly revealed.
In my review for the first film I had stated that The Old Guard was an enjoyable enough actioner for less discerning viewers but had too many issues to make it really standout. With the added behind the scenes problems, I suppose it was ridiculous of me to expect more from the sequel, but I always live in hope. Unfortunately, this sequel has most of the same issues as the first movie, with paper thin character development and some increasingly illogical plotting.
Greg Rucka returns as screenwriter, once again adapting his own graphic novel. Having never read the original basis, I am assuming that the graphic novels go into a lot more character depth and the lore behind the immortals. You would think that considering the main characters have lived for centuries there would be more backstory to go over, but clearly that wasn’t the filmmaker’s goal, with the plot being kept extremely vague once again.
One of the film’s main issues is that it feels like it is only half a story. While the filmmakers should be commended for making an action movie under 2 hours in this day and age of bloated blockbusters, that is only a good thing when your film comes together to form a satisfying whole. The majority of The Old Guard 2 is all build up for something that will come later in a planned sequel. A sequel that looks uncertain at this point.
Victoria Mahoney takes over directing duties from the departing Gina Prince-Bythewood. Like Prince-Bythewood, she has no previous experience of directing large scale action films, or any action films for that matter with her only film credit being the drama Yelling to the Sky (2011), 14 years ago. She did handle second unit direction on Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker (2018) which would definitely have given her some experience of handling a big budget production, but for the most part her work up until now has been in television.
Mahoney was at one point announced as the director of the recent release Shadow Force, but dropped out to be replaced by Joe Carnahan. The Old Guard 2 was certainly a better choice, as Shadow Force must be one of the most disappointing action films of the year. That said, this film is only a marginally better film than Shadow Force. It may have a larger budget than Shadow Force, but both films have similar problems.
Similar to the first film, there are some well choreographed action scenes, but they are once again either shot in too close or over edited to the point of distraction. It is totally unnecessary when you have cast members that have proven to be more than capable of carrying out intricate choreography in other films. Just look at co-star Veronica Ngô’s work in The Rebel (2007) or Furie (2019) for proof of this. In those films the action was fluid, with long camera shots where you could follow the choreography. Here there is a cut every couple of seconds.
As they did the first time around, the cast all put in solid work, even if there isn’t much on the written page for them to work with. Theron is still a more than capable action lead, impressing in her many action scenes. The action does pale in comparison to her best action roles, but she still commits to it 100 percent.
The relationship between Theron’s Andy and Veronica Ngo’s Quỳnh should be the emotional linchpin of the film, especially how their relationship was alluded to in the first film. It was heavily implied that they were lovers, but you never seem to get that impression from their scenes here. It just seems strange to not make more of their relationship as it would give the film the emotional heft that it clearly needs.
Of the supporting cast KiKi Layne still impresses the most, with her character Nile being integral to the main plot. Once again she gets multiple opportunities to show off her action skills. I had honestly thought I would have seen more of her in the genre since her appearance in the first film but she has focused mostly on solely dramatic roles, with the odd bit of comedy thrown in. Well if you can class Coming 2 America (2021) as a comedy.
Both Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli continue to be fun as immortal couple Joe and Nicky, but they aren’t used enough. Matthias Schoenaerts fares slightly better, with his exiled Booker finding out how to make things right between him and Andy while also bringing himself some peace. This plot thread at least gives Schoenaerts something to chew on dramatically, even if it is just a few scenes.
At least their characters don’t feel surplus to requirements as Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Copley does. As previously, he is wasted in a role that is completely beneath him. Even franchise newcomer Henry Golding is given more to do in his limited role, even getting to use those fight skills he learned for the ill-advised Snake Eyes (2021).
Then there’s Uma Thurman. The publicity photos may tease her holding a sword, bringing back memories of Kill Bill (2003), but she gets to do very little here that’s comparable to her most iconic role. Thurman does get to have one brief sword fight during what turns out to be an underwhelming finale, where she and Theron eventually face off against each other. This is in effect the only scene the two of them share, with the remainder of the film having Thurman’s Discord manipulating Ngo’s Quỳnh or trying to turn KiKi Layne’s Nile. If you were to add up Thurman’s screen time, I don’t think it would add up to more than 15 minutes, if even that.
At least Thurman is a more worthy villain than what Harry Melling portrayed in the original film. One of my main complaints was that our heroes didn’t have a worthy opponent to face off against. Even if she is underused, Thurman at least poses a real physical threat. The addition of Theron’s Andy being human also raises the stakes, giving the action some added peril.
If you enjoyed The Old Guard, no doubt you will want to watch the sequel. There is still enough here that works to make it an enjoyable enough watch, although I would recommend lowering expectations. Clearly the idea was for The Old Guard 2 to be followed by a 3rd entry, which I would be more than open to considering how events are left in the sequel. However, going by comments made by Theron herself, I doubt that there are any plans on the horizon, which makes the decision to end the film on a massive cliffhanger all the more perplexing.
Plot: 2/5
Acting: 2.5/5
Action: 3/5
Overall: 2.6/5