Folie Aux Deux! There are so many great sequel titles that can be co-opted so you don’t have to simply go the boring old number two route. There’s The old Guard: Electric Boogaloo, or The Old Guard: Guard Harder, and 2 Old 2 Guard. Sometimes the problem with a sequel is that it mines nothing, and is simply a cash grab, and extension of a franchise property. then, we have stories that actually seem set up to be a continuation, even though the sequel wasn’t initially planned. This follows the latter, meaning that we pick up exactly where the first The Old Guard left off. No real changes from the first to the second film, except we swapped International Digital Center for Descriptive Video Works, but I believe both are still narrated by Bill Larsen, for your cohesive binge watching desires.

In this sequel, Andi (Charlize Theron) is still reckoning with her loss of immortality, and this builds a lot on the lore. We learn more about the history of the immortals, and while the first film was this non-stop bloody action extravaganza from the illustrious Gina Prince-Blythewood, the sequel has a relatively unknown director with a bunch of TV credits. the reason you would do this, is because to be a TV director, you must be able to mold your style to fit the series already in progress. That’s why sometimes a pilot is directed by a much bigger name, to help establish the tone, and later episodes are handed to actors on the show, so they can get some experience directing. So, our new director has to replicate what Gina did, without being Gina.

But, she’s also inundated with the lore. And the lore bogs down this film, which seems to be more of a bridge to something better. This is like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, whose first half is about figuring out how to get the dinosaurs off the island, which is obviously what they wanted for the third Jurassic World film. So, this is only as good as the film it sets up, which hasn’t been made yet. Otherwise, it is wholly insufficient, and kind of dull compared to our last outing.

wasted in this sequel are Henry Goulding, who is basically an immortal historian, and is here for expositional purposes. Then, Uma Thurman plays the main villain, Dischord, but she’s an afterthought as the film is more interested in resolving Quinn’s beef the first film teased.

Also, this film seems to totally not understand how mortality works. I think the description had Andi at one point get her Achilles tendons cut, and run through with a sword, and the supposedly unable to heal Andi just gets up after like nothing happened. What the mortals survive here is insane. But, props to the audio description team, who still give us character introductions and descriptions for characters previously in the first film. So, if you skipped the first film, you’ll get the full picture either way. I don’t always need this, as I think people shouldn’t jump into franchises already in progress, but stuf like James Bond can be an exception to the rule. Not only do the actors change, but it has also had at least one full reboot, and now is set for another.

This is a disappointing movie, much like Horizon Part 1. It is so open ended, that you will only be able to enjoy is as the middle of a trilogy. If this is just the last sequel, it doesn’t work. It fails to resolve anything, and banks on Netflix making another sequel in five years.

Still, there are some fun action sequences. I did enjoy kiki Lane returning in her role as the newest immortal, and the rest of the cast is technically doing fine work with very little meat to the script. it feels like a film interrupted. I’d lean slightly positive for now, believing this world building will pay off in a third installment. However, the third Old Guard could be way more Jurassic World: Dominion, and less Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King.

Fresh: Final Grade: 6.1/10