Beggars can't be choosers when it comes to new movie releases these days as our options have been severely limited. However, after coming through in April with the perfectly respectable Extraction with Chris Hemsworth, Netflix is already looking forward to its next big action movie, The Old Guard with Charlize Theron. We now have our first look at the action, and it should scratch that itch quite nicely.
The Old Guard sees Charlize Theron at the head of a black ops squad with a very particular skill set which makes them good at their job. They happen to be immortal. If you think a little thing like that is going to leave the film with no tension, you can rest easy now, as the first trailer lays out the stakes the immortals are going to be facing when the movie arrives on the streaming service July 10. Check it out.
Charlize Theron plays Andy who leads this odd group of mercenaries. They're job is protecting the world, though exactly how is somewhat ambiguous considering they have apparently been viewed as both the good guys and the bad guys through the centuries. KiKi Layne will play Nile, our entry point into this story who somehow has the same immortality ability as the rest of the group, and thus gets recruited to join them and trained to fight alongside them. Meanwhile, Chiwetel Ejiofor is leading a group who is aware of the immortals and who has other plans for the Old Guard.
We see some historical flashbacks that look to give us details of just how long these characters have been alive and what they've been through. The idea that these immortal characters have been around for a long time, but that the modern age has made their immortality more difficult, as it's harder to hide in a world that records so much of our day-to-day existence, is a nice touch and an interesting element.
There's certainly a feeling of Highlander, but with guns, but honestly, what's wrong with that? And Charlize Theron does carry a sword in this trailer, so maybe we'll even see some beheading while we're at it. We only see a few brief glimpses of the action but overall it looks solid.
Th Old Guard is based on a graphic novel by Greg Rucka, who previously has worked on some top tier titles from both Marvel and DC. The last time Charlize Theron worked on an action movie based on a graphic novel it was the top notch Atomic Blonde, so the precedent here is a strong one. It's also fitting since word is that an Atomic Blonde sequel might be headed to Netflix.
July feels like a million years away at this point. Visiting movie theaters might even be a thing that's possible by the time The Old Guard hits Netflix, but even if it is, this still looks like a movie worth checking out.
