‘The Old Guard’ Is a Perfect Sci-Fi Action Thriller For ‘John Wick’ Fans

The John Wick franchise is widely credited with making action cool again. The trope of the overpowered protagonist might have felt cheesy in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but it’s now cooler than ever, thanks to Keanu Reeves’ iconic assassin. High-octane action thrillers like Sisu and Nobody wouldn’t exist without this particular franchise. The good news is that the expansion isn’t stopping anytime soon. Three more John Wick installments are confirmed, and as you wait for them, The Old Guard is a safe bet.

The Old Guard is the kind of lore-light superhero film that can be watched by anyone without the struggle of noting and remembering the tiny details. It stars Charlize Theron as Andy, the leader of a small group of mercenaries who are immortal and have unexplained regenerative healing abilities. Things heat up when a Big Pharma CEO starts hunting them down, hoping to exploit their DNA for everyone. From there, the kicks and punches fly.

‘The Old Guard’ Employs a Cocktail of Martial Arts Techniques, Including Gun-Fu

The John Wick franchise continues to earn high praise for its use of varied martial arts techniques and high kill count. It started with the gun-fu (blending close-quarters gun action with physical fights), before the fences were kicked down to allow access to other fascinating fighting techniques. Rather than focus on special abilities, The Old Guard thrives on the same kind of traditional (though slightly exaggerated) combat. And the awesomeness was achieved by using some of the talent from John Wick.

According to the Motion Picture Association, director Gina Prince-Bythewood enlisted popular MCU stunt and fight coordinator Brycen Counts and Danny Hernandez. The latter works at the 87eleven Action Design company founded by stuntmen-turned-directors Chad Stahelski (better known for John Wick) and David Leitch (better known for Deadpool).

Brycen, who also worked on the John Wick sets, explained how fun it was to do the martial arts scenes. He even went into detail about the Kali technique, which was one of the film’s highlights.

“Kali is a Pilipino martial art. That came into play with the hand to hand combat stuff. We used the pistol like a kali stick, to block and parry, much as we did in the John Wick movies. “

Prince-Bythewood also wouldn’t have gotten a better lead actor than Charlize Theron, who had already proved herself as an action star in Atomic Blonde. Brycen revealed that Theron was very willing to learn new techniques, so they taught her everything, from HEMA (Historic European Martial Arts) to aikido and kendo. Plot-wise, it makes sense for Andy to know all these moves since she is 6,000 years old.

‘The Old Guard’s Brilliance Stretches Beyond the Action

Netflix

The AV Club reported that The Old Guard was watched by about 78 million households on Netflix, a decent number but not big enough to call it a hit. Perhaps the superhero factor locked out fans of other genres, but the film is worthy enough to be viewed by everyone. Nominated for several awards, including Critics’ Choice and Saturn, its brilliance goes way beyond the cool fight choreography.

The script is perfect. Here, we have the usual kind of villains whose ambitions appear totally disproportionate to their ability, but whose audacious acts cross into new ground. Additionally, the mood keeps varying. The filming is an irresistible adrenaline rush in some instances and intensely moving in other moments. Whilst some of the characters come off as shallow and detestable, the actors make them enigmatic without any blatant aura-farming.

Theron doesn’t shine alone. Whilst she was unquestionably the person with the biggest paycheck in this production, there are memorable contributions from everyone else. From Kiki Layne to Chiwetel Ejiofor, everyone appears to have a natural aptitude for engaging the audience and yanking them into their own personal little universe.

Hiring Gina Maria Prince-Bythewood as the director might have felt like irreverence, considering that she had never made an action movie before, but she proves herself to be more than many of the greatest action movie directors. She paints the film with plenty of color and eccentricity. Despite this adventure being a darker tone than much of her previous work, it is just as artistically accomplished and rewarding, with a palpable emotional impact.

Spare some time to hang out with this old guard.