The Old Guard 2 review – Charlize Theron’s delayed Netflix sequel is an incomplete mess

Five years after the first film came out, a misshapen action fantasy follow-up arrives with a baffling cliffhanger endingEven with our thick-of-Covid desperation for anything that felt big at a time when life felt too small, there was more to The Old Guard than the average churned out Netflix mockbuster. Released in the hell of July 2020, it came with the requisite boxes ticked (big star, international locations, franchisable setup) but felt closer to the real thing than most, proving to be a hit for those eager for escapism, scoring one of the streamer’s biggest launches to date.But like many Netflix films, its cultural impact was negligible, popular for a weekend or three but failing to live on in any notable way after, consumed with speed and forgotten at a similar pace. A sequel was inevitable yet unnecessary, and while one was given a green light at the start of 2021 and started production in 2022, it’s taken another three years to see the light of day. Not only does The Old Guard 2 bear the bruises of such a cursed post-production process but it’s also weakened by such a distance from the first, forcing us to remember something most of us had resigned to the ether (it’s telling that to promote the sequel, Netflix has recruited its stars to recap the first film). Continue reading...

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