REVIEW: THE OLD GUARD 2

3/5

Changing Of The Guard

107 Mins. Starring: Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Matthias Schoenaerts, Vân Veronica Ngô, Henry Golding, Uma Thurman & Chiwetel Ejiofor. Screenplay: Greg Rucka & Sarah L. Walker. Director: Victoria Mahoney. On: Netflix.

Ready to put the circular hammer axe down again? Signature weapons don't come much cooler. It's been a half decade, if you can believe it, since Netflix's 'The Old Guard', starring Charlize Theron and company, but we finally have a sequel, even if in reality, it only seems like a couple of calendars since the first one. The streaming service, who recently released the final season of one of their most successful shows, 'Squid Game', with more to come (?!?), going head-to-head with 'The Bear' on Hulu and Disney Plus, are still desperate for that movie franchise kick-starter. Throwing A-list legends and locations at what would be a blockbuster screen, but losing something in translation, downgrading to your smartphone one. It's always been Netflix's catch-22. Remember...erm...that movie starring Ryan Gosling...and that one with...erm Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and The Rock?! Exactly.

But that doesn't mean these movies (based on the comic-book from Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández) are bad, just badly in need of a better way of being distributed. But we live in a time we're you need to be a resurrected dinosaur, or resuscitated red cape to make it in the summer movie circuit. Unless you're an ageing Hollywood heartthrob in a racecar. Speaking of ageless, just like Keanu Reeves in 'John Wick', 'Atomic Blonde' star Charlize Theron shows no signs of slowing down, circling 50 with Furiosa vengeance. Yet it seems she could do even better than this franchise, just like the 'Fast and Furious' one she's in, or the Marvel character she will play, with all due respect. It's not that these tent poles aren't entertaining cinematic fare, playing in the sandbox with all our favourite toys, but this is the same star who got down in the mud with Tom Hardy's 'Mad Max' and lost a tooth for the atomic blonde on blonde action.

Even the Skydance title-card music sounds like something out of the M.C.U. But this Victoria Mahoney ('Yelling To The Sky') directed movie (with a screenplay from Greg Rucka and Sarah L. Walker) is its own property. Bringing back old favourites KiKi Layne, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Matthias Schoenaerts (best in show) and the great Chiwetel Ejiofor. It's the new tricks that really impress for this Old Guard, mind you, alongside some amazing action that goes hand in hand with ferocious Theron films too. Vân Veronica Ngô is a real old friend from the first film, but with a score to settle, she threatens to steal the show this time out. And that's alongside newcomers like 'Crazy Rich Asians' star Henry Golding, most recently seen sporting the same beard in Guy Ritchie's 'The Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare' (but shave that off, and he becomes your new Bond), and an underused (at the moment) 'Kill Bill' legend in Uma Thurman. This is a fun film, but it really feels like it's merely setting up more to come. Soon...we can only hope. The guard ain't getting any younger. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'The Old Guard', 'Heart Of Stone', 'Fubar'.