Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Super-power movies have become a staple of this century’s blockbuster list. As with any film style, they have gone through phases. We have watched them evolve from the bright and colourful Batman of the 1960s through the gothic phase of the 1990s and early 2000s, where the brood was perfected till it was clichéd.
And in the last decade, we have seen the Age of the Universe and Multiverse, where each movie is a breadcrumb marketing the path from home to the candied silver screen and then back. Now, we are seeing the resurgence of the anti-superhero movie – a genre with brood, blood, humour, cynicism, unwilling gallantry and a Game of Thrones-sized serving of alliance-bouncing.
One of the earliest entrants in the category was The Mask, and The Old Guard is the latest, building on a dark and vaulted history including Hancock, Unbreakable and The Boys.
And for the most part, this is perhaps my brain’s favourite of the super-power genres, though my heart and soul will always enjoy the classics of the 2000s and guiltily devour the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.
The Old Guard is first and foremost a beautifully shot action film and perhaps that is because the director Gina Prince-Bythewood has never been tainted by the title of action film director. Sure, she has other movies like The Secret Life of Bees, Biker Boyz and Love & Basketball under her belt, but she has the perfect balance between experience and an undefined action style.
Once one enters the action director/writer/producer club, one has a defined style and formula that defines every movie made, no matter whether you are Michael Bay or John Woo. That is what immediately jumps off the screen in this movie. The action sequences are beautifully shot, with unique angles, a good use of light and shadows to convey mood and long shots that convey inner dialogue just as much as they set the scene.
The plot is fairly straight-forward. There are four immortals led by Andromache “Andy” of Scythia (Charlize Theron) who have spent centuries saving humanity without even realising it.
The team includes Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts), Joe (Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky (Luca Marinelli) and together they are the A-Team, er, I mean, the I-Team.
Sometimes, these immortals lose their powers for vague reasons and a new member pops up for an equally vague reason. To add some tension, they are being chased by a “pharma bro” Dudley Dursley (I am not even kidding, it’s the same actor) who grew up to be cardboard cut-out supervillain Merrick (Harry Melling).
He wants to harvest their DNA to unlock immortality.
And if that wasn’t enough “canon” fodder for the upcoming universe, there’s an immortal locked in an Iron Maiden, the self-doubting Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and enough fake blood packs to feed a stable of Twilight fans.
Both the plot and the acting are quite well layered, unsurprisingly. The same writer who wrote the original graphic novel, Greg Rucka, wrote the screenplay here and many things, including the new girl Nile (Kiki Layne), have been expanded upon, compared to the comic.
Charlize’s new stereotype as the Furiosa of the action thrillers is something I can completely endorse, since she looks and fights every bit the part.
And each of the actors bring their own depth to their lines, except for some excruciatingly corny dialogue, which thankfully is tempered with, quite literally, a fistful of punch lines.
My only annoyance with the movie is my main qualm with Netflix’s gravy train of serialised entertainment, which tells you barely enough but spends more time hanging cliffs and building worlds for future episodes and films.
And therein lies the greatest casualty of the “movie-verse”– standalone storytelling. M Night Shyamalan’s Split and Unbreakable are fantastic movies in their own right that did not need sequels or prequels. They stand well on their own and as a set.
I can’t say the same for this movie. I would watch the next one not because of this one’s plot but because of its intentional plot holes. And for that, it earns its 3.5 popcorns.
