The Old Guard

At first glance Old Guard looked like a totally great action movie but it is quite the opposite. It is totally dumb starting with its premise, dominated by extremely unpleasant Charlize Theron but which has an unexpectedly quite solid fighting scenes. What can I say – Old Guard isn’t Mad Max for Charlize to behave in the same way to achieve a totally different result. (2020-07-15)

Another wannabe action flick that trips over its own feet over and over again with a stupid script. The action has decently bloody gore and polished visuals that, while effective, are unfortunately too effective and therefore unrealistic and rather artificial. The screenplay is classically stupid like every other film like it, the film literally oozes with over-the-top racial, political, religious and sexual correctness, and the “trendy hits of today’s cinema” are just too much. Add to that the perpetually pissed off expression of the unlikeable Charlize Theron and a handful of supporting, supplementary actors just for show and we get a beautiful mistake that shouldn't have needed to be made in the first place and no one would have missed. Perhaps the best thing about the film is Dudley Dursey, whose presence can at least amuse while Harry Potter fans. (2020-08-25)

Remarkable and interesting subject, but unfortunately the film lacks elementary briskness. Here, a skilled editor's hand and a clever screenwriter/dramaturge were needed. Endless philosophical conversations in action-packed movies do not excel. It is a great pity. At least I have definitively confirmed that I like the Belgian bad boy Schoenaerts in every role. (2020-07-18)

If Charlize would kiss the pharmacist who treats her shoulder, this movie’s circle of bizarreness would be closed. The Old Guard is an odd mix of Bram Stoker’s existential motifs, almost parodically overwrought racial, gender and LGBT correctness, and every possible cliché of the action and sci-fi genres, all with excessive focus on the emotions and motivations of the characters, which is sometimes effective and sometimes silly. However, the result is still better and more cohesive than another recent Netflix team/buddy flick…you know, that one by Bay. (2020-07-29)

Greg Rucka just reels off stories like this, one after the other. The Old Guard has excellent subject matter. The idea has potential, but the product doesn’t fully realize it. The action is fairly solid, but the music-video-style visuals are disappointing and the R&B soundtrack kills every other scene. Charlize looks great with an ax and, if they had focused more on the past, this could have turned out to be exceptionally good movie. As it stands, it is just a reasonably good TV movie that promises a more entertaining sequel. (2020-07-11)