The Old Guard movie review

The Old Guard - movie review - Netflix released

I think some comic books don't expect to be a big hit, and thus blatantly steal from great works. That was definitely the case with The Walking Dead, which initially was such obvious theft from "28 Days Later" that I can't believe Danny Boyle doesn't get royalties from the TV show. But "The Old Guard" takes so much from "Highlander" that I can't believe every review doesn't start with that fact.  The film even ends like a pilot for a tv show could have, leading to obvious weekly episodes where they take on a new mission each week.

That said, I am such a fan of the Highlander mythology that I really didn't mind the copying, as it is done well, and the action is better than average. Plus, they do jump a bit away from noble sword fights among themselves, to fighting with the most modern guns against non-immortals. And while hiding who they are from humanity, their mission is to help guide humanity in better ways, rather than try to exist outside and parallel to it. Now I'm wondering if anyone young who isn't familiar with "Highlander" thinks this is a ripoff of "Hancock", which Charlize's character shares some similarities with.

I'm a little bothered that the rules don't make a lot of sense. There are hints that there is something genetic in the DNA that makes them special, but then why do they randomly stop being immortal, as that means it isn't just a DNA factor, but something more mystical than science based. How do they sense other immortals on the other side of the world?  They show them rapidly healing from small wounds several times, and a number of times they imply they cannot be killed, yet obviously something like complete incineration would burn them beyond anything left to heal. And I suppose cutting off the head seemed too obvious to bring up, but I doubt they grow new heads (or bodies from a severed head).

There is a lot of talk about the gay immortal characters in the film. Actually, this was done really well. But I think mostly because of the actor. I hadn't noticed him before, but he was recently Jafar in "Aladdin".

I'm surprised this was as big of a hit as it was. I'm not sure if it was in theaters if it would have done as well as Netflix reports it was streamed. No one has really verified their numbers, and I'm not really hearing people screaming for followups to be made, like I'd expect from the way Netflix says it was received.

It's worth seeing, is pretty good, a very watchable action film.

4 out of 5 stars.