The Old Guard 2 Delivers the Same Thrills and Fervor as Its Predecessor - Reactor

Normally, I would begin with some introductory thoughts about the first Old Guard film that segued seamlessly into further discussion of its sequel, but trouble is, I would like to complain instead? It’s been five years, Netflix. You made me wait for five years for a sequel to this absolute gem of a movie. Marvel drowns us in films and television several times a year, and it’s been half a decade since I saw my favorite immortals.

Of course, the film itself picks up exactly six months later. Good thing all these actors are strangely ageless…

We pick up precisely where the first film left us in its final scene: Quynh (Vân Veronica Ngô) has found the exiled Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts), and clearly means to locate Andy (Charlize Theron) after centuries of torment locked in a coffin at the bottom of the sea. At the same time, Andy’s crew are getting used to having Nile (KiKi Layne) around, and using James Copley’s (Chiwetel Ejiofor) intel to hit more useful targets in order to benefit the world. The current hits are all associated with running very powerful weapons to an unknown buyer that the team can’t manage to track down.

Oh, and Uma Thurman is running around. Her name is Discord, and she’s apparently the earliest immortal, even before Andy. We learn this through immortal librarian Tuah (Henry Golding), who has some other fun theories due to the legends he’s pieced together about their kind over the centuries. Theories about Nile, and why Andy’s immortality ran out, and what Discord might want. Whatever you may think of these reveals, the library is gorgeous. I have a lot of questions about how it was maintained over the years or created in the first place, but I would like to live in that library, please and thank you.

Do these different conceits all jive together as a cohesive mythology? At the moment, not even close. Do I care? Not remotely. I’ve got my immortals back, and they’re just as precious as I remember. We begin with an action set piece that involves boats and car chases and guns and swords and incredibly tasteless artwork. (There’s neon glock signage? Various aged statues painted garish single colors? Terrible satin pajamas?) The action sequences are gorgeous as ever, maybe even a step up from the previous outing, especially where Andy and Nile’s skills are concerned; Andy always looks like she’s dancing when she fights, and while Nile is less experienced, it hardly matters for her efficiency.

Speaking of action sequences: Victoria Mahoney steps into the vacancy left by previous director Gina Prince-Bythewood, and does her proud across the board here. The transition feels seamless, Mahoney taking the vernacular of her predecessor and keeping everything that works, while offering a stamp all her own. Here’s hoping this opens the door to many more projects going forward—Mahoney’s work with this crew should be recommendation enough, and that’s without getting into the fact that she was the first woman to ever direct any bit of Star Wars (she was a second unit director on The Rise of Skywalker). One of Mahoney’s forthcoming projects is supposed to be an adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Dawn with Ava DuVernay. Maybe this will give Amazon the nudge to get things moving on that front…

I should mention that there’s a lot of convenience in the plot of The Old Guard 2; Tuah’s existence has been kept from Andy’s crew because he supposedly asked her to do so, and it’s hard for the setup with himself and Discord not to feel contrived. But because all of the actors are so strong in their roles, so believable as ancient beings with wisdoms and desires beyond what mortal humans want, it’s hard to be bothered. And what’s more, the (somewhat understandable) cruelty of Booker’s fate from the first film is addressed in a way that befits these characters—because as we see over and over, rather than an insistence that immortality makes a person callous and disconnected, the Old Guard maintain an empathy for humanity and each other that is staggering and beautiful.

Oh. Oh, that’s what Eternals was supposed to do. (And didn’t.)

The dialogue doesn’t always serve these moments, but the cast manages to show the underlying emotion regardless. This is particularly true of Andy and Quynh’s reunion; the betrayal Quynh is feeling runs too deep, making it hard to put into words, but Ngô and Theron infuse those scenes with so much anguish and longing, you can see where they’re headed. It’s heartening, too, that the sequel never balks at the setup that immortality also begets queerness—Nicky (Luca Marinelli) and Joe (Marwan Kenzari) are going strong as ever, Andy and Quynh are locked in their perpetual comrades/girlfriends/soulmates/wives situationship, even Tuah has a moment where he gives Copley the a-okay (Ejiofor plays it off adorably).

Thurman’s Discord is the only character truly underserved in all this—she’s simply evil and egotistical to the max. It’s still fun to watch her and Andy go toe-to-toe, though. And while certain mechanics of the previous plot are repeated in service of sequeldom, there’s one thing these films do that I’ll always appreciate: The women are the ones constantly driving the action and rescuing everyone, and the script flip never feels contrived on that front. They’ve simply put all their female characters in the most powerful positions, while the men get to be infinitely soft and kind (even when they’re wrecks, as in Booker’s case).

The unique style of action helps The Old Guard films to stand out, but its heart lies in the quiet moments between its characters. Connection sustains its story—in many ways, these films remind me of the Sense8 television series, which is some of the highest praise I can offer a piece of fiction. Stories about the beauty of knowing people deeply, of loving them beyond reason or doubt, and of the incredible things we can do when we allow those relationships to populate our lives. The Old Guard 2 ends on a cliffhanger in the hope of more films, and while this formula stays true, I’ll never say no to at least one more adventure.

Oh, and that Joe and Nicky prequel, remember Netflix? We all want it? It ‘s maybe the only time folks really do need and want a prequel? Any time you would like to get on that…