When US Marine Nile Freeman (Layne) is thrown into a cognitive confusion after discovering that she is an immortal, she reluctantly follows Andromache of Scythe aka. Andy (Theron), the leader of an army of four of similar immortals, on the condition that the latter would provide the answer of what is going on, and a few screen-minutes later, Andy's pat rejoinder of Nile's agitated puzzlement is “I didn't say you will like the answer”.
That is a double-edged evasion since it goes without saying, “immortality” is still an ever elusive Holy Grail for humanity, but on a more self-conscious level, it is THE OLD GUARD's own disclaimer that “you might watch our film, but satisfaction is not 100% guaranteed".
African-American female director Gina Prince-Bythewood's fourth feature, following the trailblazer like Patty Jenkins, THE OLD GUARD is an ass-kicking superhero flick that immutably centers on its female characters, here, Theron remarkably and consistently struts her stuff as the optimal action star, despite that the setting is generically contemporary (no spatiotemporal specifics like David Leitch's ATOMIC BLONDE or George Miller's MAD MAX: FURY ROAD), and the action sequences are pragmatically choreographed rather than elaborately designed.
Theron's Andy exudes profound world-weariness (the burden of being immemorial and frustrated by the vice within humanity) and vulnerability (an efficacious plot device to keep something at stake, otherwise, since they cannot be killed, there is no fun to watch them prevail over despicable lesser mortals), and more importantly, she has to mentor a rookie Nile, played with verve and flexibility by Layne, even suggests a baton-passing connotation that consolidates the solidarity.
If anything, Prince-Bythewood and writer Greg Rucka (also the co-author of the graphic comics the movie is based on) nail their colors to the mast of solidarity to hold those ancient mercenaries together, even when perfidy flares up as a routine stimulant to facilitate the story development, there are consequences though (a heartfelt apology cannot do the trick), but no vileness can contaminate the outfit. As for the antagonists, the arch-villain Steven Merrick (Melling, Harry's obnoxious cousin in HARRY POTTER franchise, who has successfully grown into a vicious being) is a whippersnapper arriviste who repays those warriors' centuries of good deeds by capturing them as guinea pigs for his own profit, if that cannot rattle one's cage, humanity is really doomed.
Notwithstanding that male characters are sidelined, THE OLD GUARD boldly and unabashedly exalts gay love in the persons of Nicky and Joe (Marinelli and Kenzari, both actors have graduated from playing villains to heroes), their kiss and a rousing declaration of love articulated by Kenzari dwarf any homophobic machismo and one step closer to integrate queer personages into the mainstream. Ethnic inclusivity also shows strong promise, Van Veronica Ngo's impressive cameo as Quynh, Andy's comrade-in-arms eons earlier is reintroduced at the end, but with a vengeance that can kick off a sequel with fans intrigued.
Among the glut of superhero offerings, THE OLD GUARD is modest in scale and action, but what Prince-Bythewood and her team prioritizes is the time-honored tradition to establish compassionate, complicated and believable characters, however outlandish the milieu it is, for that matter, it is more than satisfactory, and lastly, to Theron, all hail to our queen!
referential entries: David Leitch's ATOMIC BLONDE (2017, 6.6/10); Patty Jenkins' WONDER WOMAN (2017, 7.1/10).
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