The first trailer for Netflix’s The Old Guard made it clear that Charlize Theron was in serious butt-kicking mode as the leader of an immortal mercenary group. On Thursday, the streaming giant dropped another trailer, which contains a lot of the same moments, but it also adds something that was missing from its predecessor: one-liners that could rival those from a 1980s Arnold Schwarzenegger flick. That might be the necessary ingredient that allows us to get lost in a blockbuster-style action flick at home, as though we’ve been transported back to the height of Cinemax summer reruns. That’s comforting in a time when not even the movies can go to the movies.
I’m getting the same vibes from Charlize’s exasperated reaction (“Can you please not do that again”) to being stabbed by KiKi Layne’s new recruit as I did from Arnold’s immortal Commando line (“Remember, Sully, when I promised to kill you last? I lied). Add the group’s casual reference to going way back to The Crusades, and yeah, this movie will probably hit the spot. It’s comic-book based as well, sourcing from Greg Rucka’s acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. From the synopsis:
Led by a warrior named Andy (Charlize Theron), a covert group of tight-knit mercenaries with a mysterious inability to die have fought to protect the mortal world for centuries. But when the team is recruited to take on an emergency mission and their extraordinary abilities are suddenly exposed, it’s up to Andy and Nile (KiKi Layne), the newest soldier to join their ranks, to help the group eliminate the threat of those who seek to replicate and monetize their power by any means necessary… THE OLD GUARD is a gritty, grounded, action-packed story that shows living forever is harder than it looks.
Netflix’s The Old Guard — directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and also starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthias Schoenaerts, Luca Marinelli, and Marwan Kenzari — streams on July 10.