【2010 Archives】

If nothing else010 Archives The Old Guardon Netflix is a great reminder of how satisfying it is to see Charlize Theron kick some ass. But make no mistake: There's plenty more to commend about director Gina Prince-Bythewood's take on the comic from Greg Rucka, which he also adapted here for film.

Theron stars as Andromache of Scythia (Andy for short), the leader of a squad of immortal warriors who have spent centuries fighting for what they think is right, based on their lived experiences over all those years. And as it turns out, the contours of that moral compass are wholly shaped by the group's individual and shared traumas.

Andy, for example, has intimate knowledge of the persecution women were subjected to in the midst of 16th century witch hunts in Europe. Nicky (Luca Marinelli) and Joe (Marwan Kenzari) were mortal enemies in an ancient religious war who eventually became lovers – and so, so much more than that – as their fates intertwined.

Even the newer members of the group have their pain. Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts) left the mortal world behind in the early 1800s. The scars of losing his family – and really, everything he's ever known – remain fresher for him than for the others. It's a different kind struggle for him, more rooted in personal loss than persecution, but it's essential to Booker's arc through the story.

Finally, there's Nile Freeman (KiKi Layne), a U.S. Marine and the low-key star of this story. Her awakening into immortality is a piece of what sets the movie's story into motion, and it's through her that we learn many of the rules of this world.

Nile is no stranger to trauma herself, having grown up as a Black woman in modern America, but the impact of that trauma on this new existence is more implicit for her than it is for the rest. Nile's journey is defined much more by her introduction to immortality and the immediate need to come to grips with that. And her understanding of that immortality is shaped by the growing connection to her new comrades.

The looming threat they all face is a fitting foe, if not a terribly surprising one. A Big Pharma company led by the scheming slimeball Merrick (Harry Welling) gets wind of the immortals and hatches a plan to capture them. He wants to use their unique biological makeups to run tests and hopefully develop world-changing treatments.

Really though, Merrick is in it for the money. Morals and ethics are foreign concepts to him. He regards the immortals only as potential test subjects and has no compunctions about imprisoning them and subjecting them to painful experiments. He's also a scrawny little coward protected by a hired army of men with guns. You absolutely love to hate him.

The story's ups and downs are driven entirely by this cat-and-immortal-mouse chase. And while most of it sticks to a formulaic and easily anticipated series of twists, the pleasure is in the details. Each character's motivations are supported by tangible plot points that are addressed in the story, and the slick, fast-moving action is as abundant as it is thrilling.

The Old Guardis very good about crossing its t's and dotting its i's. If you're paying attention, and it's hard not to thanks to the riveting pace across two hours of movie, you'll never struggle to understand why a character is making one choice or another. Formulaic storytelling isn't a bad thing when all the pieces are as carefully considered and sequenced as they are here.

A few threads are left to dangle by the time it's all over, but there's clearly a bigger plan in the works here. Intriguing characters like Chiwetel Ejiofor's Copley and Veronica Ngo's Quynh beg for more development, but that will have to wait for another story. If nothing else, it's nice to see some possible directions a bigger view of this world could move in.

None of that takes away from the basic fact that The Old Guardis a welcome showcase of Theron's natural ability to lead an action movie with energy and deadly precision. She and the rest of the cast also benefit greatly from Bythewood-Prince's sharp direction and a script that effortlessly weaves together exposition, motivation, and action. If you're a Netflix subscriber and you've got an itch for some summer blockbuster thrills, this just the thing to scratch it.

The Old Guard is available to stream on Netflix starting July 10.