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“The Old Guard 2” Feels Old, Indeed

Written by: Christopher Llewellyn Reed | July 2nd, 2025

The Old Guard 2 (Victoria Mahoney, 2025) 1½ out of 5 stars

Director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s 2020 adaptation of Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernandez’s graphic-novel series, The Old Guard, was, in the main, well-written, well-shot, and an all-around good time, featuring adrenaline-fueled action and blood-soaked violence. Charlize Theron (Long Shot) led an appealing cast through their paces and gave audiences all they could want in a comic-book-turned-movie. Sadly, the same cannot be said for the sequel, The Old Guard 2.

Do not go into this film without first catching yourself up on what happened last time. Should you fail to watch (or rewatch) the original, expect to be confused, as we jump right into the action. This is not usually a flaw, but, combined with the bedlam of the new screenplay, results in a certain amount of narrative mess. Who is who and why is why and where is where are all questions we ask right away.

Charlize Theron in THE OLD GUARD 2. Courtesy of Netflix ©2025

If you remember, The Old Guard was about a group of immortal mercenaries whose regenerative powers are discovered by both a CIA operative, Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Showtime’s The Man Who Fell to Earth series), and an evil pharmaceutical entrepreneur. Led by Andy (Theron), the group consists of Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts, Amsterdam), Joe (Marwan Kenzari, The East), Nicky (Luca Marinelli, The Eight Mountains), and newest member Nile (KiKi Layne, Coming 2 America). Booker betrays his comrades-in-arms because he’s tired of living forever, and at the end they send him into exile. In a coda, he is tracked down by another immortal, Quynh (Veronica Ngô, Da 5 Bloods), who has spent the previous 500 years imprisoned in an iron maiden at the bottom of the sea. How did she get out? Enter Part 2.

Which begins with her rescue, courtesy of another (previously unknown to us) immortal, known as Discord (Uma Thurman, Oh, Canada), who sends Quynh out for vengeance against her former bestie, Andy, whom she feels abandoned her. The bulk of this movie’s plot concerns Discord’s machinations, introducing us to yet another (also previously unknown to us) immortal, Tuah (Henry Golding, Crazy Rich Asians), keeper of a library with all of their histories. Copley is back again, now as an ally, and Nile plays an even more central role.

KiKi Layne in THE OLD GUARD 2. Courtesy of Netflix ©2025

Andy was somehow rendered mortal in The Old Guard, and in The Old Guard 2 we learn why, courtesy of Tuah. We also gain more knowledge about Andy and Quynh’s past relationship. Unfortunately, much of the backstory that plays out in flashbacks only serves to muddle our understanding of the power and limits of immortality and our protagonists’ motivations over the centuries. Worse, as the minutes tick down toward the conclusion, we realize that nothing is to be resolved and that it’s all a setup for a Part 3.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of The Old Guard 2 is how tired everyone looks and how unexciting the actions scenes turn out to be. Prince-Bythewood has been replaced by Victoria Mahoney (Yelling to the Sky), who does not seem up to the task. It’s a slog, with cheap-looking visual effects (including a brief instant of Theron running that looks horrifically aided by CGI). Here’s hoping the next installment, should I choose to watch, is better.

Veronica Ngô in THE OLD GUARD 2. Courtesy of Netflix ©2025
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Christopher Llewellyn Reed is a film critic, filmmaker, and educator, as well as Film Festival Today's Editor. A member of both the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, Chris is, in addition, lead film critic at Hammer to Nail and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice.

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