Shadows on the Wall | The Old Guard 2

The Old Guard 2

dir Victoria Mahoney
scr Greg Rucka, Sarah L Walker
prd David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Charlize Theron, AJ Dix, Beth Kono
with Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Uma Thurman, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Henry Golding, Matthias Schoenaerts, Veronica Ngo, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Kamil Nozynski, Slavko Sobin, Christophe R Tek
release US/UK 2.Jul.25
25/US Skydance 1h45

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golding, marinelli, marwani, theron and layne

Charlize Theron and her band of immortal good-guy mercenaries are back for another action-packed adventure in glamorous locations around the world. This is an almost ludicrously picturesque film, as director Victoria Mahoney makes even the grubbier settings look achingly cool and gives the fight sequences a balletic quality. But the script isn't strong enough to warrant the strained emotions. So while it's snappy and watchable, the film feels incomplete.

On a mission in Croatia, Andy (Theron) discovers that a mystery woman named Discord (Thurman) is causing chaos among the immortals, and teammate Nile (Layne) recognises her from her dreams. In Korea, they learn more from Andy's ancient friend Tuah (Golding) who joins them in Europe. And exiled immortal Booker (Schoenaerts) brings a message from the angry, long-imprisoned Quynh (Ngo). Andy is shocked to learn her old friend is alive. And also that she's working with Discord to stop the immortals from interfering with the mortals. Or maybe they're up something far more nefarious.

Because they're supernaturally adept at fighting, driving, acrobatics and pretty much everything else, the movie is packed with outrageous battle choreography and insane car chases, plus excessive gunfire and explosions just for fun. The film pings between these, a flurry of flashbacks and a sprawling mythology that grows with each ponderous conversation. The salient theory they all discover is that immortality can be lost, and also given.

Everyone in the cast is better than this material, so they add hugely to the watchability of the film. Although the light moments are a lot more entertaining than the over-serious stuff. Theron holds the centre with a steely presence, while Kenzari and Marinelli once again nicely balance their emotional undercurrents with witty touches. In between, Layne, Ejiofor (as the team's token mortal), Golding and Schoenaerts have strong moments of their own. Thurman is also terrific as a literal force of nature. It's great to see her back in sword-swinging action.

Oddly, the violent death and destruction feel disconnected from the central narrative, ramped up for purely cinematic reasons. The fights are skilfully staged and performed, but they never feel remotely organic. It's more engaging when Andy observes that the worst thing about being immortal is the hangovers. Or when Booker says he wouldn't mind having an expiration date, because it adds meaning to life. At least these tidbits offer something to think about while we wait for the inevitable part 3.

themes, language, violence 2.Jul.25

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