The Old Guard 2 Review
Director: Victoria Mahoney
Date Created: 2025-07-02 15:41
1.5
The Old Guard 2 Review: Directed by Victoria Mahoney this Netflix movie brings back our beloved immortal warriors with some new plotlines and new additions to the cast. The movie has an excellent cast with Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Marwan Kenzari, Matthias Schoenaerts, Vân Veronica Ngô, Luca Marinelli, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Henry Golding, Uma Thurman and others. With a Running time of 106 minutes the action movie is a sequel to the 2020 movie The Old Guard, which had become cult for its gripping action scenes and new idea.
The story picks up where the first left off. Now Andromache of Scythia, aka Andi (Charlize Theron), has to deal with massive change — she is no longer immortal. Quinn, lost (or so everyone believed) to the sea, comes back, with vengeance in his heart. Booker stays in the wilderness, punished for his betrayal. When there is a new threat, the old prodigy-warrior has to leave his civilized family behind and has to go back to the world of man, and the heroes who worked so long to forget him.
The Old Guard 2 Review
I so badly wished to love Netflix The Old Guard 2. I did love the first one. It too had new action, emotional moments and a smart premise for immortality. This follow-up, however, did not fare as well for me as the original.
Let’s begin with the pacing. The film is slow despite being less than two hours long. Some of the scenes drag more than they should, and I found myself at times even wanting the action to move faster. While the film tries to build tension and suspense, it can instead become slow and directionless. There’s supposed to be a ball bustin’ squad of immortal warriors battling to defend man for crissakes, I wanted some energy.
The character developments left me somewhat confused too. Booker’s guilt, Quinn’s revenge, Andi’s angst — these were going to be humdingers. But somehow or other, they all failed. I just couldn’t get invested in them and their issues like I did with its predecessor. It’s like the film took it for granted that I would care without ever giving me a reason why. Neither, though, do the new cast members. Uma Thurman plays the main villain, but her character never really becomes threatening. She’s just histrionic, really. And Henry Golding’s character, as enigmatic as he is, doesn’t leave much of an impression. I just wish the film spent more time with the two of them and their motivations or backstories.
So, then let’s move on to the action sequences, which are clearly the most important aspect of any action movie. The grungy hand-to-hand combat, the firefights: It’s all a bit less zappy this time out. The cutting’s stuttery, and the camera pulls away too fast when things start to get hairy. Rather than being impressed by the stunts, I found myself wincing and sometimes literally leaning forward, straining to get a handle on what in the world was going on. I know Charlize Theron and the cast are capable of pulling off incredible action, but the way it’s shot here doesn’t do them justice.
The other thing that irritated me was the story. I realise that they’re building towards The Old Guard 3, and all that, but this is more of an extended trailer than an actual story. The story is unfinished. There are compelling ideas at play here—Andi grappling with her mortality, and the issue of their immortal existence, just to name two—but none of them are given their proper accounting. It is all half-baked, as if removed from the oven while still in the middle of cooking.
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That been said, there are still some good things about the movie. Charlize Theron, as always, gives it her all. She lends power and sorrow and boss level intellect to Andi’s persona, even when the script never even approaches those areas. The relationship between Joe and Nicky is also a standout. With a movie that is otherwise about battles and missions, their love for one another adds a touch of humanity. Visually, the film is fine. There are some visually beautiful scenes, especially when seeing memories. And the soundtrack’s fine (not as fine as the first film, however).
Ultimately, my biggest disappointment with The Old Guard 2 film is that it plays it way too safe. It doesn’t risk anything, it doesn’t explore the themes of immortality or loss, and it can’t deliver the emotional uppercut in the direction it foolishly seeks. I was hoping for an adrenaline-fueled ride. What I got was a film that seemed to be going through the motions until the next.
Netflix The Old Guard 2 Review: Summing Up
In the end, Netflix’s The Old Guard 2 is a missed opportunity. It had all it could have asked for — great cast, very strong fan base, and genuinely cool world of immortals — but it did absolutely nothing with them. Maybe the five-year gap between the first and second film didn’t help. It is hard to get emotionally attached to characters you barely recall, and the film doesn’t really quiet do enough to update or reacquaint with the story.
If you’re a Charlize Theron fan, or you’re already wondering what’s going to occur next in the story, you might want to give it a watch. But if you’re looking for a good sequel that takes advantage of the magic of the original film, you might find yourself leaving in dismay — as I did.
The Old Guard 2 movie is streaming on Netflix.
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