Picking up 6 months after the first movie's events, the immortal team of Andromache "Andy" of Scythia (Charlize Theron), Joe (Marwan Kenzari), Nicky (Luca Marinelli), and newbie Nile (Kiki Layne) has been stopping arms dealers and other ne'er-do-wells with the help of their Guy in the Chair, Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor).
Unbeknownst to the gang, Andy's immortal lover Quynh (Veronica Ngo) has escaped her underwater prison and is looking for revenge with the help of a woman who calls herself "Discord" (Uma Thurman). Quynh feels slighted that Andy has stopped looking for her after 500 years while she drowned over and over, unable to die. The sting of Andy's betrayal will lead her to an emotional showdown—or at least, I hoped so. But The Old Guard 2 isn't that kind of movie.
What little polish and edge the first movie had is gone, replaced by perfunctory action sequences and an indifferent cast. Sure, The Old Guard wasn't what you'd call a triumph of cinema, but at least it looked like the cast was having fun.
Here, fan favorites like Marwan Kenzari as Joe and Luca Marinelli as Nicky are given nothing to do. Even Kiki Layne, who arrived with much fanfare as new immortal Nile, is now more plot point than character with newly discovered powers that could have been interesting in a better movie. Newcomer Tuah (Henry Golding) is an immortal historian tracking The Old Guard's movements throughout history and provides some exposition about the group's immortality that serves to only muddy the already murky waters.
The biggest disappointment is Uma Thurman as Discord (ugh, of all the names to pick), who is either miscast or misused. You would think it's fun seeing The Bride again in an action movie, but Thurman exudes so little menace as a final boss as to be scarcely worth remembering.
The only shining lights here are Charlize Theron, who acts and fights through the movie like the Academy Award-winner she is, and Matthias Schoenaerts as Booker, who returns to provide some much-needed pathos to all this immortality.
I give props to the cast for saying their lines with a straight face, talking about people codenamed "Discord" or convenient ancient prophesies with a gravitas that sounds more hilarious than serious. Dialogue is insanely robotic that I could swear it's written by ChatGPT if not for Greg Rucka (who created the comic the franchise is based on) being credited for its screenplay.
To add insult to this already injurious affair, the movie surprisingly ends in a cliffhanger as Discord flies away triumphant, making me close the Netflix app in exasperation. I did say I wanted more, but not like this. If more of what we got is coming, I want no part of it.
0 Comments