The Old Guard (Exclusive Mini Review Series)

The Old Guard (Exclusive Mini Review Series)

Initial release date: July 10, 2020

Studios: Netflix Skydance Media

Tagline: Forever Is Harder Than It Looks

Plot: A group of mercenaries, all centuries-old immortals with the ability to heal themselves, discover someone is onto their secret, and they must fight to protect their freedom.

Cast

Charlize Theron (Bombshell; F9) - Andy

Kiki Layne (Amazon’s Coming 2 America) - Nile

Matthias Schoenaerts (The Mustang) - Booker

Marwan Kenzari (Aladdin) - Joe

Luca Marinelli - Nicky

Chiwetel Ejiofor (HBOs Locked Down) - Copley

Harry Melling (Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit) - Merrick

Veronica Ngo (Netflix’s Da 5 Bloods) - Quynh

Natacha Karam (TVs 9-1-1: Lone Star) - Dizzy

Mette Towley (Hustlers) - Jordan

Anamaria Marinca (Ghost in the Shell) - Kozak

Writer: Greg Rucka (based on the graphic novel series by)

Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Rated R for sequences of graphic violence, and language (125 min)

The concept for this Netflix Original release is really entertaining and quite intriguing. Basic plot is a group of mercs, who are immortals with the ability to heal themselves, discover someone is onto their secret, and they must fight to protect their freedom.

All of the characters are very interesting and most of their backstories are very fascinating. The fight sequences are amazingly choreographed and the movie features some really bad ass moments

There are a few moments during the movie that slows things down a bit and the over-use of some pop songs don’t really work well with the movie. The ending of the movie does leave things open for a potential sequel - especially the scene before the credits.

Here are a few interesting tidbits about ‘The Old Guard’:

• The eponymous graphic novel source material for the movie has an original run of five issues and a sequel series of an additional five, collected into two trade paperbacks as of 2020. Fans can expect this movie to have sequels. At least one sequel is already in Netflix’s pipeline with signed contracts for the main characters.

• Andy calls herself Andromache the Scythian. Scythians occupied southern parts of Eastern Europe from about the 7th century B.C. up until the 3rd century B.C.

• The London riverside pub that features in the movie is the famous Prospect of Whitby, otherwise known as the Devil’s Tavern. It remains one of the oldest pubs in London, with the site dating back to 1520, making this a fitting place for the main characters to meet in London.

• According to Theron, she received the graphic novel for the first time while shooting 2017s ‘Atomic Blonde’ and after reading the first pages she felt that the story was interesting enough for a movie project.

• Having been viewed by over 70 million households in its first month, this is one of Netflix’s most successful releases.

• In March 2017, Skydance Media picked up the rights to adapt the comic novel ‘The Old Guard’, written by Greg Rucka and illustrated by Leandro Fernandez, into a film.

• In March 2019, Netflix picked up worldwide rights to the film and agreed to finance it with Skydance.

• It was reported on January 27, 2021 that Netflix had greenlit a sequel.