The Old Guard
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): July 10, 2020 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 45 Critic Reviews
Positive:
34
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJul 7, 2020
I watch The Old Guard and try to imagine a new world, one where other comic-book movies are this well made and breathtaking. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJul 6, 2020
The Old Guard shows that, in the hands of a smart writer and director, something can be made of it that’s worthy of our attention. This genre can grow. Let’s hope it does. Read full review
90
TimeStephanie ZacharekJul 9, 2020
In its craftsmanship and soul, it has more in common with the 1990s films of action genius John Woo than with anything that’s been extruded through the franchise Play-Doh pumper in recent years. If an action movie can be elegant and thoughtful, this one is. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonJul 10, 2020
In addition to observing the humanity of its heroes, The Old Guard also employs Prince-Bythewood’s penchant for grandiose, melodramatic gestures that shouldn’t work at all yet play out masterfully. Read full review
85
Vanity FairRichard LawsonJul 7, 2020
The Old Guard is a naked attempt to kick off a franchise, but I wasn’t bothered by all those obvious table-setting mechanics because what they’re establishing is so tantalizing. Read full review
83
IndieWireKate ErblandJul 3, 2020
Despite the familiarity, The Old Guard manages to be both very grounded and very entertaining, a marriage of expectations and twists unlike little else the genre has inspired even during its most fruitful times. Read full review
80
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoJul 9, 2020
The Old Guard has everything you could want from a Netflix actioner. Combat situations get your adrenaline pumping, and it’s rather quick to the draw. Gina Prince-Bythewood establishes a world worth investment thanks to characters who develop farther than just another team of renegade badasses. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJul 9, 2020
I’m not usually someone to hope for sequels, but I guess if you live long enough … Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter TraversJul 7, 2020
Theron has already showed her talent for bringing a deeper dimension to action as Furiosa in "Mad Max: Fury Road." Here, the actor reveals the toll that living forever is taking on Andy, who took a year off to heal emotional scars before her reluctant return to battle. Read full review
80
ScreenCrushMatt SingerJul 6, 2020
The atypical stuff in The Old Guard all comes from director Gina Prince-Bythewood, who brings a level of thoughtfulness and nuance to material that’s usually just an excuse for onscreen bloodshed. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJul 3, 2020
What makes this gripping graphic novel adaptation so distinctive is the trust it places in its audience to stay glued through the quiet, character-building interludes threaded among excitingly varied fight scenes that crescendo in an expertly choreographed showdown. Read full review
78
TheWrapSteve PondJul 3, 2020
If you like your superhero comic-book movies with a truckload of angst on the side, The Old Guard might be just what you’re looking for. Or if you like your brooding dramas best when they come with a high body count, this could be the movie for a nice punchy weekend. Read full review
75
The Associated PressJake CoyleJul 16, 2020
The Old Guard, while in many ways typical, is wonderfully unconventional in all kinds of less obvious ways. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJul 15, 2020
The Old Guard blends the intelligence of a well-written dramatic sci-fi/fantasy tale with the action/adventure of a big budget motion picture. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJul 10, 2020
This is a rousing and satisfying actioner that occasionally gets bogged down in complicated exposition but presents some intriguing twists on time-honored themes about the double-edged sword of immortality. Read full review
75
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonJul 9, 2020
At two hours, it can drag, and the mid-budget nature of the thing can leave it feeling less than ambitious. But there’s just enough inventiveness here to make it stand out in a packed field, and to cement Prince-Bythewood as a director who can handle bloodshed as adeptly as character. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubAnya StanleyJul 8, 2020
Greg Rucka pens the screenplay, refashioning his own graphic novel and doing as much to retain tone and character agency as Gillian Flynn did for her "Gone Girl" adaptation, for example. Read full review
75
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiJul 8, 2020
Cool though the skirmishes are, director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s film could use some more visual panache, given the unique historical backgrounds of her characters. The look, by and large, is rudimentary action flick. Still, it’s good fun and has more than a few winning one-liners. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayJul 7, 2020
When Layne and Theron are together, The Old Guard transcends its pulp provenance to become a soulful, emotionally grounded portrait of female mentorship and mutual respect. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshJul 7, 2020
All too often, the human aspect gets lost in the spectacle of an action movie. But Rucka and Prince-Bythewood foreground that element of the story to create something with stakes, intrigue and philosophical weight. They make sure this cool concept and cast are given their due, and set up a sequel too. With any luck, we'll see this world again. Read full review
71
Paste MagazineMichael BurginJul 16, 2020
So, yeah, The Old Guard may be comfort food, but during this particular year, and thanks in large part to this particular cast and crew—it will hit the spot for many. Read full review
70
PolygonMonica CastilloJul 11, 2020
With The Old Guard, Prince-Bythewood is taking a lead of her own, showing that this old genre still has much more life left in it, if it’ll let outsiders take charge. Read full review
70
SlateSam AdamsJul 11, 2020
Just let Charlize Theron kick some ass, and leave the thornier moral questions for the sequel. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangJul 8, 2020
It’s the rare superhero movie in 2020 that can leave you wanting to see more, closing-credits kicker and all. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJul 8, 2020
Prince-Bythewood proves accomplished at directing set pieces that run toward the more balletic bone-crunching examples of the genre. Theron in particular, with films like “Atomic Blonde” on her resume, is good at this sort of thing. But she’s good at the moody stuff, too. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJul 3, 2020
What makes The Old Guard special is that, for all its canny action tropes, the film really does deal with the prevalence of evil in the world, and the limits of doing good. It’s a lot to squeeze into a smaller screen. Read full review
70
VarietyOwen GleibermanJul 3, 2020
It’s like an immortal-mercenary hangout movie. Chunks of the picture are logy and formulaic (it dawdles on for two hours), but the director, Gina Prince-Bythewood (making a major lane change after “Love & Basketball” and “The Secret Life of Bees”), stages the fight scenes with ripe executionary finesse, and she teases out a certain soulful quality in her cast. Read full review
70
Screen RantMolly FreemanJul 3, 2020
What The Old Guard lacks in well-paced, tightly plotted story, it more than makes up for with compelling characters and slick, thrilling fight scenes. Read full review
70
IGNJoshua YehlJul 3, 2020
The story opens the door to a fascinating mythology of ancient warriors and immortality, although things get a little clunky when it comes time to explain how it all works. Still, The Old Guard is well worth watching if you’ve got an itch for something new. Read full review
67
The PlaylistMarshall ShafferJul 8, 2020
The disposability of the people who stand in the way of the mercenaries feels at odds with the film’s core ideas about the value of life. Perhaps this is a fitting encapsulation of “The Old Guard” itself. Situated at the crossroads of two different styles and ideologies, the film takes the less-trodden path – though not without a few detours into conventionality. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattJul 7, 2020
That leaves a movie that, beneath its strong female presence and few contemporary bits of flair, has a sort of inevitable bog-standard action feel, just entertaining enough in its live-die-repeat machinations to pass the minimal engagement test. Read full review
63
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJul 13, 2020
Eventually a fatalistic torpor settles over the film, even during the increasingly gun-heavy action scenes. For all its early intoxication, The Old Guard has an aftertaste that’s deadening. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJul 3, 2020
There are a few scenes where Theron is an inch away from completely rewriting the proceedings – she just needs a slight jolt in the right direction from her director, a nudge toward chaos. But filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood never quite delivers the inspirational spark her star needs to unleash such fury, and the resulting antics rest somewhere between spectacle and shoulder-shrug. Read full review
63
USA TodayBrian TruittJul 3, 2020
Old Guard feels fresher as a high-minded treatise on mortality and loss than a superhero-y franchise-starter. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeJul 11, 2020
There’s plenty to enjoy, not least Layne’s terrific turn as the newbie with a fresh take on forever. Read full review
60
Film ThreatAlex SavelievJul 11, 2020
The film is buoyed by Charlize Theron’s fierceness and a few shining moments of true inspiration. Roll with the inherent silliness of it all, and you may just have a good time. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeJul 10, 2020
Sadly, the film itself is not quite as silly as it should be (something of an achievement given what you’ve just read). Everyone is taking it very seriously. We don’t get enough characters pulling their limbs together after being hacked to pieces by combine harvester. Some very good actors have been cast in the wrong roles. No matter. Theron makes it work. Read full review
60
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJul 3, 2020
Sleekly enjoyable. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyJul 8, 2020
As directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, The Old Guard is assured and textureless: competence doing the work of inspiration. The movie is like an extended trailer for itself. Read full review
50
SlashfilmChris EvangelistaJul 3, 2020
Unfortunately, whenever the action stops, The Old Guard sags, with emotional moments that never really land, and big dramatic scenes that lack any genuine drama. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineChris BarsantiJul 3, 2020
Though it smartly prioritizes the bond of relationships over action, the film is in the end only somewhat convincing on both counts. Read full review
40
Total FilmKevin HarleyJul 3, 2020
Even an axe-swinging Charlize Theron struggles to wallop much life – endless or otherwise - into Gina Prince-Bythewood’s comic-book riff, a derivative fantasy-actioner so laggy it puts you right off immortality. Read full review
40
EmpireJames DyerJul 3, 2020
Despite some solid action beats and a story that skips from Sudan to Afghanistan, Paris and, finally, Guildford, The Old Guard is a trite revenge/conspiracy yarn, clumsily told (“That woman has forgotten more ways to kill than entire armies will ever learn”), and squanders a potentially engaging conceit. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawJul 3, 2020
The adjective in the title is right. It gets old pretty quickly. Read full review
38
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 10, 2020
The entire affair plays as pro-forma, pre-ordained, pre-digested and pre-dictable. Read full review
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