Spoilers for The Old Guard ahead. If you're curious about new Netflix film The Old Guard, I can confirm that it is a fun, fully realized vision. The plot: Several quasi-immortal characters, led by Charlize Theron as Andy, have acted as anonymous mercenaries for centuries. When a new member of the group emerges (KiKi Layne as Nile) and a Big Pharma company comes hoping to steal the secret to their eternal life, the raucous action really begins. The screenplay was written by the original comic book co-creator, Greg Rucka, so it's a pretty respectful adaptation of the classic comic series. And the film boasts a star-studded cast with some pretty incredible international actors. (In particular, American actor Layne is a superstar in the making). So if you, like me, spent a whole bunch of the film wondering where you knew these actors from, in between marveling at how awesome they all are, wonder no more. And if the film spawns a sequel, we'll be seeing a lot more of them...
Charlize Theron as Andy
Surprising no one, if you're familiar with her work, Theron is great in this. She's Andy, full name Andromache the Scythian—and she's been alive for a really, really long time. She doesn't specify in the film, but a companion history video specifies 4800 B.C. as the date she learned she couldn't die—making her almost 7,000 years old, if my math is right.
KiKi Layne as Nile
Also really great is relative newcomer Layne as U.S. Marine Nile who discovers she can't die after taking a gnarly-looking knife wound to the throat. She's starred in If Beale Street Could Talk and Native Son, and she totally kills it (pun intended) in this, too. It's hard to convincingly go toe-to-toe with Theron in fight scenes, but she's super-believable.
Kenzari as Joe, Marinelli as Nicky
The two have crazy chemistry together, and honestly, it's one of the sweetest, loveliest parts of the film for me. Just wait until you get to the part where Joe talks about how much Nicky means to him. (The fact that there are two gay "superheroes" in the film is a pretty big deal, too.)
Harry Melling as Mellick
If that face (or that name) seems familiar to you, Harry Potter fans, there's a good reason for that: Melling played Dudley Dursley, Harry's nasty, cruel cousin. He looks really different from his role in the film series, but he channels just as much nastiness and cruelty into his portrayal of a pharma exec hoping to mine the immortal mercenaries for their secret to eternal life.
Van Veronica Ngo as Quynh
She's only glimpsed in flashbacks and at the very end, but Ngo's Quynh goes from lifelong ally of Theron's Andy to (potentially) bitter enemies. You've seen this Vietnamese actor in Bright, Furie, and The Last Jedi, and—if a sequel to The Old Guard gets greenlit—you'll likely see a lot more of her in that, too.
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