They may be immortal, but The Old Guard can’t avoid the savagery of audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. After waiting five years for the sequel,The Old Guard 2has now landed onNetflix, with the response from viewers leaving much to be desired as the superhero action sequel squanders the faith left behind by the first outing.
Alongside returning cast membersCharlize Theron, KiKi Layne, Marwan Kenzari, Luca Marinelli, Matthias Schoenaerts, Vân Veronica Ngô, Chiwetel Ejiofor,The Old Guard 2addsCrazy Rich Asians, Snake Eyes,andThe Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfarestar Henry Golding andKill Billstar andHollywood icon Uma Thurman to proceedings.
Charlize Theron and Dynamite Action Can’t Save ‘The Old Guard 2’ From Drowning
Why cast Uma Thurman in an action movie if you’re just going to leave her on the sidelines?
Sadly, this all-star cast cannot saveThe Old Guard 2from being adisappointment to viewers and fans, with the action outing now forever stamped with a toppled popcorn bucket and a rating of 44% on Rotten Tomatoes’ audience-based Popcornmeter alongside just 28% from critics. These scores pale in comparison to its predecessor, which achieved a “certified fresh” rating of 80% from critics and 71% from audiences at the time.
WhileThe OId Guard 2promises todeliver the same exciting actionand intriguing mystery as the immortal warriors continue to carry out what would normally be deadly missions while trying to uncover their origins, something clearly hasn’t clicked as well the second time around. Rotten Tomatoes user Tommy F gave the sequel just half a star and, despite enjoying the first movie, criticized the follow-up for failing to deliver anything “interesting or new” and even advised those who likeThe Old Guardto avoid the second installment. “This is parody of the film from the 2020 and it’s not even funny,” they concluded quite brutally.
Maybe It’s Time for ‘The Old Guard’ to Die…
Anthony T., meanwhile, calledThe Old Guard 2“Poorly plotted and acted. I couldn’t make it to the end and cut it off,” with fellow user C. F wondering “why can’t netflix make a decent film? why ?” Another user declares the movie “insanely underwhelming and boring,” and will now even avoid a third movie should it ever get made.”
There is some positivity to be found, with Paul S awardingThe Old Guard 2four and half out of five stars and saying, “Not as good as the first one, but this movie was still awesome. The action scenes were great and the story was just as compelling the second time around. I definitely recommend it for action fans!” However, the consensus is clear: the sequel does not live up to its predecessor. “I loved the first movie, and I really wanted to love this one as well. But it was such a disappointment right from the start that I couldn’t watch it for more than 20 mn. Bad action scenes, weird storytelling sometimes veering off into comedy (whether intended or not), terrible dialogue lines, uneven acting and very average cinematography,” says Christophe V.
Directed by Victoria Mahoney from a story by Greg Rucka,The Old Guard 2is now streaming on Netflix and finds Charlize Theron’s Andy grappling with her newfound mortality as a mysterious threat emerges that could jeopardize everything she’s worked towards for thousands of years.
Source:Rotten Tomatoes
The Old Guard 2
