j* movie reviews 2020

The Old Guard (2020)

A new wave of super-guardian immortals kicking arse and sharing LOLs.

This taps a genre I feel isn't really done as much as it could but, the straight up immortal humans. Sure, we have vampires and superheroes, but this feels more nuanced. Charlize Theron saddles up as a fairly textbook Trinity Warrior - the black clad chick who is there to kickarse.

There are four of these immortal humans, or The Old Guard. There have been others, but like everything, even "immortals" die eventually. And they feel the pain of the loss of both their normal humans and their long-lived friends. They also have psychic connections with things, like baclava and the new immortal who turns up serving in a female army unit in Afghanistan. They soon co-opt the new girl into their band of five and debate which human tragedy they should get involved in next - the vibe is they can't do much anymore.

However this is where there is an interesting ethical dilemma. A Big Pharma honcho has them hunted down and trapped so he can exploit their bodies and samples with a view to curing disease. Whilst they were all taken against their will, and the big wig was definitely out for profit, it did raise the issue: if you are some kind of freak of nature, do you have a duty to share your genetics and samples for the greater good? I'd tend to lean towards yes, but also that the Big Pharma honcho guy should have cajoled them in rather than stunning them.

There is a lot of quite down time, but the fights are very well crafted. If you like your action with a side of thinky, then this does that.

J* gives it 4 stars.

PS. It's a spoiler to say it, but this is basically Charlize Theron adding a new chapter to her character from Hancock. If you've never seen it, Hancock is one of the wildest super-human films there is.