As always Theron is a power house of a presence, her physical surety and grace is lethal and elegant, her ability to be both stoic and imposing but also deeply emotional is confounding. Her filmography has always been varied but over the past five years she has shown how dominate and versatile she can be as an actor- from Mad Max to Tully to Atomic Blonde to Long Shot- she is unarguably one of the most dynamic actors working today and as such is always wonderful to see onscreen. Layne pairs well with Theron, strong, imposing, but still emotionally present, the two have great chemistry. Matthias Schoenaerts, Marwan Kenzari, and Luca Marinelli who play the remainder of the titular old guard are all confident and solid, and their dynamic with Theron is effortless. Chiwetel Ejiofor as the conflicted middleman is somewhat underutilized but always a pleasure to see and Harry Melling as the Mark Zuckerberg stand in is not quite dimensional but is deliciously sneering and corrupt.
The action is impressive, propulsive and mostly practical giving it a kinetic hook that a lot of CG action doesn't have. The sets/locations to the costume to the score all carefully considered with no melodrama or obviousness that can usually pop up in action movies particularly comic book adaptations. The story is somewhat an amalgam of familiar elements- ageless healing warriors, corrupt company trying to 'extract' the genetic secret, the otherness of having powers- but even so this feels fresh and is taken serious enough where there is an actual sense of reality and the group itself is looking to battle actual political/social unrest. And it's just plain fun!
One of the most effective, if not the most, of Netflix's action features, that certainly warrants the big screen. Meticulously constructed, well balanced, surprisingly emotionally complex, a great ride.
Currently streaming on Netflix.
See It.
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