Netflix’s immortal action sequel returns with higher stakes, darker tones, and a lot less firepower — is “The Old Guard 2” already past its prime?
“The Old Guard 2” begins with the kind of over-the-top violent cold open that’s clearly trying to channel Bond-movie swagger — only with more brooding and less wit. Charlize Theron’s Andy, donning a sleek pair of sunglasses and dark hair, leads her squad of immortal mercenaries — let’s call them the I-Team — into a guarded villa. Slicing and stabbing their way through waves of enemies, they reach their mysterious target: a man in red silk pajamas who is quickly dispatched like the rest. It’s all flash and no footing — a glossy Netflix-ready fight sequence that’s more Swiffer ad than Spectre.
But once the team returns to their base, plotting their next move, The Old Guard 2 shifts into something closer to Fast & Furious — minus the fun, charm, or family banter. If anything, this is more like “The Languid and the Bothered.”
A Heavier Sequel That’s Light on Thrills
Five years after the release of the original Old Guard — a surprise hit that blended emotional stakes with slick action — the sequel arrives weighed down by its own mythology. Gone is Gina Prince-Bythewood, whose energetic direction gave the first film its lift. In her place is Victoria Mahoney, who seems unsure whether she’s directing a superhero epic or the ninth installment of The Expendables, just with regenerative limbs.
Now that The Old Guard 2 holds the center of a growing franchise, it takes its premise — immortality with a ticking expiration date — a little too seriously. Scripted by Greg Rucka (creator of the original graphic novel) and Sarah L. Walker, the sequel leans hard into the lore. The result? A lot of somber exposition about who lives forever, who no longer does, and what that means for everyone involved.
Old Friends, New Enemies, Same Existential Crisis
Andy, still reeling from losing her immortality midway through the first film, is now hunted by ghosts of her ancient past — including Quynh (Veronica Van), her comrade-in-arms for 1,500 years who was imprisoned in an iron maiden and sunk to the ocean floor after being convicted of witchcraft. (That tends to strain a relationship.) Quynh now wants revenge — not just on Andy, but on the world — and she’s joined by a new figure from history named Discord, portrayed by Uma Thurman with the kind of corporate villainy that feels more Wall Street than medieval battlefield.
There’s a glimmer of creativity in a sequence where Andy walks through a Roman corridor and the past physically unfolds around her — a visual metaphor for centuries of memory. But moments like this are rare. For a film about the crushing weight of time, The Old Guard 2 often feels cheaply made and emotionally hollow. The complex rules of who can or can’t be immortal start to feel like a cinematic shell game, not a world-building triumph.
Charlize Theron Still Owns the Screen — When the Movie Lets Her
Theron remains a magnetic presence, and when Andy finally confronts Quynh in a brutal alley fight, the film momentarily finds its pulse. But elsewhere, the cast feels underused or misdirected. KiKi Layne returns as Nile, still fierce and focused. Henry Golding joins as Tuah, a new immortal with disappointingly little screen time. Matthias Schoenaerts’ Booker, still trying to redeem himself, spends too much time sulking. And Chiwetel Ejiofor, back as Copley, delivers lines like “It would be ill-advised to discharge any firearm in the vicinity of the core” with sharp confidence — even if that “core” turns out to be a hidden nuclear reactor in Indonesia, straight from the big-book-of-action clichés.
The villainous plan? Discord aims to blow up that reactor as part of a broader quest for immortality. But by the film’s final act, it’s not the characters or stakes that feel eternal — it’s the tired tropes and slow pacing that seem doomed to live forever.
Final Verdict: Immortality Can Be a Drag
Where the original Old Guard found a balance between brutal action and emotional depth, The Old Guard 2 drifts into the realm of self-important superhero melodrama — without the charisma or innovation to justify it. For a film about warriors who can’t die, this sequel feels strangely lifeless.