Review of The Old Guard

By Dave B.

​Throughout the centuries, there has been a group of immortal warriors fighting on the front lines to preserve what they believe to be right and good. In the modern world, they fight from the shadows, helping where they can against an ever-increasing tide of chaos. But when a biotechnology company discovers their secret, the immortal warriors battle to protect each other from an eternity of abuse and exploitation while trying to hold on to meaning in a life that never ends. 

Before seeing The Old Guard I assumed that it would succeed or fail based primary upon its backstory and its action. Well, the backstory was decent (if more sparse than I would have preferred) and the action was good, but not particularly unique. So in some respects, The Old Guard could have been somewhat disappointing.

But it wasn’t. In fact, The Old Guard is legitimately good (despite being a bit overly long) because it contains a surprising amount of emotional and philosophical depth. There’s an introspective quality that permeates the film. Pain, regret, unending suffering, unendurable loneliness, and eternal love are the film’s recurrent themes. While The Old Guard is fairly bloody, the violence at times feels like an intentional afterthought, or more precisely, the action isn’t always about being as adrenaline-inducing as possible.  It often serves other purposes, such as to further the film’s main themes. For example, one of the consequences of being an immortal soldier is that you’re likely to develop a certain amount of callousness about the lives of mortals after centuries of unceasing warfare, but can still retain your empathy.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that The Old Guard is some sort of genre-breaking masterpiece. As far as the quality of action is concerned, it’s no “John Wick”. It’s not even an “Extraction” or a “Villainess”. I consider The Old Guard to be more solid than spectacular. But I definitely recommend it because, as a fan of action movies, it’s good to see one that can be thought about instead of just experienced. 

Service: Netflix
Runtime: 125 Minutes
Rating: 7/10