The Old Guard 2 Review: Immortality Fatigue

Sequels are expected to deepen character arcs, raise emotional stakes, and expand world-building, but The Old Guard 2 instead opts for a muddled descent into franchise fatigue. Directed by Victoria Mahoney and penned by Greg Rucka (returning from the original) and Sarah L. Walker, this follow-up to Netflix’s 2020 surprise hit fails to live up to the promise of its predecessor. Despite the presence of high-caliber talent—Charlize Theron, KiKi Layne, and a welcome addition in Henry Golding—the film lacks emotional weight, narrative clarity, and stylistic freshness.

A Return Without Direction:

The first Old Guard offered a relatively novel twist on the superhero genre: immortality as a curse rather than a power fantasy, anchored by melancholic action and moral introspection. Its muted color palette and globe-trotting action, though not groundbreaking, gave it a grounded energy. In the sequel, that atmosphere is largely abandoned in favor of convoluted lore expansion and questionable pacing.

The central narrative hook—Andy (Charlize Theron) having lost her immortality—is a compelling way to reset the stakes. Mortality, after centuries of invincibility, should shake her to the core. Yet the film’s emotional investment in this arc is paper-thin. Andy’s existential crisis is treated more as exposition than drama, and her reckoning with aging and vulnerability never moves beyond surface-level brooding.

Meanwhile, Nile (KiKi Layne), positioned as the new generation’s center of gravity, is saddled with a mythic subplot that is more confusing than compelling. The film presents her as a figure of destiny, but rather than enriching her character, it reduces her to a narrative device—an unwitting weapon, a chosen one, a cipher.

Bloated with Lore, Starved of Heart:

Where The Old Guard excelled in sleek simplicity, the sequel overwhelms with mythology. The introduction of Tuah (Henry Golding), a mystical sage-like immortal, opens the door to deeper backstory and higher cosmic stakes. However, the writing mishandles these elements, leaning heavily on exposition and pseudo-philosophical pronouncements that bog the film down. The complex rules around immortality—how it can be lost, transferred, or weaponized—raise questions but rarely offer satisfying answers.

Uma Thurman’s Discord, a new villain with potential, is given a thin, erratically written motivation. Her reveal as the world’s first immortal is intriguing on paper, yet the film squanders it by reducing her to a snarling megalomaniac. It’s an unfortunate waste of an actor capable of layered menace. Discord should be a tragic, terrifying figure. Instead, she becomes just another overexplained supervillain with unclear goals and exaggerated affectations.

Veronica Ngô returns as Quỳnh, whose betrayal and thirst for vengeance are positioned as key emotional engines. But rather than anchoring the story in a potent personal feud, the film lets their conflict simmer into melodramatic back-and-forth. Their eventual reconciliation feels unearned, rushed, and too conveniently timed to set up another sequel.

Action without Impact:

One of the strengths of the first Old Guard was its kinetic, hand-to-hand combat—grounded choreography elevated by emotional stakes. Here, the action sequences are slick but soulless. Much of the stunt work is buried under shaky editing, generic cinematography, and a lack of spatial clarity. Director Victoria Mahoney seems more interested in scale than tension, crafting explosions and brawls that look expensive but feel interchangeable with any number of streaming actioners.

Worse still, the consequences of violence in a story about immortality are never convincingly conveyed. Characters heal or don’t heal, lose immortality or gain it, often based on rules that feel arbitrarily applied. The visceral tension that should come from facing death—especially when characters become mortal—is mostly absent. Even a climactic sacrifice, which should evoke shock and grief, is emotionally inert due to poor buildup and clumsy delivery.

Performances Trapped in a Weak Script:

Charlize Theron remains a commanding presence as Andy, but she’s underserved by a script that never allows her to truly explore the implications of aging after centuries of invincibility. Her scenes with KiKi Layne’s Nile lack the mentorship tension of the first film, replaced instead by vague prophetic banter.

KiKi Layne continues to bring a grounded presence to the chaos, but her role is burdened by endless exposition dumps and unclear character motivation. Matthias Schoenaerts’ Booker fares better, with a tragic throughline that comes closest to achieving real emotional heft—though even his most dramatic moments are hampered by the film’s fragmented pacing.

Henry Golding is a welcome addition, exuding wisdom and gravitas as Tuah, but he’s shoehorned into too many monologues and lore reveals to ever feel like a lived-in character. Meanwhile, the returning duo of Joe and Nicky (Marwan Kenzari and Luca Marinelli) are given far less screen time and development, turning their previously resonant romance into glorified background noise.

Uma Thurman, despite her screen presence, is shackled by the script’s lack of nuance. Discord’s descent from godlike figure to comic-book cliché is almost impressive in its mismanagement. A performance that should have been haunting is instead shrill and inconsistent.

Style Over Substance—and Even Style Suffers:

From a production standpoint, The Old Guard 2 maintains a glossy finish. Locations span continents, and the budget clearly went toward digital effects, elaborate fight sets, and stylish costuming. But the film’s visual identity is strangely anonymous. Absent is the first film’s gritty minimalism, replaced with neon filters and generic blockbuster sheen.

Even the score—a mix of ambient tones and pulsing beats—fails to leave a lasting impression. Unlike its predecessor, which used music to accentuate mood and movement, The Old Guard 2 often deploys its soundtrack as a crutch rather than a complement.

Overall:

The Old Guard 2 had all the tools for a strong continuation: a beloved ensemble, rich character histories, and a premise ripe for exploration. Unfortunately, it buckles under the weight of its ambition. Its attempts to build lore only muddy the narrative. Its efforts to create pathos fall flat due to shallow writing. And its action, though competently staged, lacks urgency and impact.

Rather than evolving, the franchise feels like it’s stumbling into the same traps that plague many superhero sequels: more characters, more mythology, less coherence. With a bloated plot, emotionally vacant arcs, and an ending that teases yet another installment, The Old Guard 2 is less a triumph of eternal warriors and more a cautionary tale in how not to expand a promising universe.