Screenwriter Greg Rucka adds texture to the story by sensitively observing the lingering trauma of war, the weight of violence, and the loss of family while grounding the story's villainy in a portrait of 21st-century capitalism that blurs the lines between greed and sadism, adapted from his series of graphic novels (illustrated by Leandro Fernandez).
It was a daring move for Netflix to put an action film in the hands of a female filmmaker, but The Old Guard is a boldly assured departure for Gina Prince-Bythewood from the intimate romantic drama of her earlier work, such as Love & Basketball and Beyond the Lights. Andromache of Scythia, played by Charlize Theron, is the leader of a tight band of soldiers who can't be killed and regenerate after death. While fighting on opposing sides in the Crusades, her fellow soldiers Joe (Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky (Luca Marinelli) met and fell in love, and logistics guy Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts) was first murdered during the Napoleonic Wars.
The group doesn't have a memorable name like the Avengers, and their moral code isn't immediately apparent. "Depends on the century," one of them says when asked if they're good or evil. In films like Atomic Blonde and, most notably, Mad Max: Fury Road, Theron has established a solid action reputation; here, she plays a different type of Furiosa, haunted by memories of numerous catastrophes across history. She appears toned and powerful, moving with a casual swagger, dressed in simple black with dark hair in a no-fuss, side-parted haircut. But it's the character's dark interiority, the psychological baggage she carries, that gives her depth.
Layne, who shone in Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk, toughens up impressively, resenting Andy's uninvited tutelage with real rage while gradually coming to grips with the grief of losing her family and being recruited into a life in the shadows. All of the characters are well-drawn, with Kenzari and Marinelli offering a touching portrayal of a millennia-old love.
The story has a wonderful sweep to it, jumping between places in Africa, Southern Asia, rural France, and London. Prince-Blythewood used her Cloak & Dagger experience as a stepping stone to a more action-oriented film than her prior work. The use of music, as usual with Prince-Blythewood, adds acute embellishment, with a delicate composition that mixes driving techno and percussion parts.
SCORE: 4/5
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