COVID-19 Special: 'The Old Guard' (15)

Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Cast: Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Matthias Schoenaerts

Where can I watch?: The Old Guard is streaming on Netflix

Rating: 2/5

Review: It gives me no pleasure to say this, but The Old Guard is rubbish. This is honestly a real shame, as there's actually a lot to celebrate here: a female lead, a black female director, a gay male couple who subvert the usual queer relationship tropes usually assigned to screen, and a flourishing bond between two female protagonists that doesn't descend into backstabbing. Despite these ingredients, however, The Old Guard stumbles along rather blandly, raising more questions than it answers and failing to meet the sum of its parts. So the plot: Andy (Charlize Theron) heads up a group of immortal mercenaries who inadvertently make contact with a new 'recruit' (KiKi Layne) whilst being tracked by a big pharma company desperate to make a profit from their regenerative skills (cue Chiwetel Ejiofor sobbing about the painful death of his wife). If the story sounds familiar, it's probably because it's been done about a million times before. Credit where credit is due, however: director Gina Prince-Bythewood executes some solid action set pieces; and KiKi Layne tries her best to demonstrate her acting chops in a role that unfortunately descends into cliche. There are also some potentially interesting questions raised about why their immortality suddenly seems to expire, but this philosophical tangent is quickly glossed over in favour of some more shooty, stabby action. Disappointing.

A COVID-19 Must-Watch?: Frustratingly below par for a film that could have been quite interesting and fresh, The Old Guard succumbs to the poor script adapted from the graphic novel of the same name (and same writer!), resulting in a pretty bland outing that fails to excite or entertain. Although some elements hint at being original, the film gets bogged down in violent set pieces instead of focusing on the more interesting aspects - the immortal characters themselves.

Comments

'Mary Queen of Scots' (15)

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'Riders of Justice' (15)

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'Jojo Rabbit' (12A)

***** Stuck at home after injuring himself at a Hitler Youth weekend, Jojo discovers that his mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their house. The words 'comedy' and 'Nazis' are hardly bedfellows, and yet director/screenwriter Taika Waititi has somehow created a film that features both. Without doubt, it's a highly controversial movie, with Joker levels of division already popping up across the internet - even I have to admit that laughing at the opening montage in which a young boy practises his 'Heil, Hitler' felt quite uncomfortable - but I'd argue that this charming little oddity is probably the film we all need right now. Cards on the table - the film never laughs at the atrocities the Nazis committed. In fact, we see the world through Jojo's (delightful newcomer Roman Griffin Davis) eyes - a crazy, confusing place that's made all the more bizarre by the presence of his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi). Dubbed

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