Even though we did a lot of arguing about Netflix’s new action movie “The Old Guard,” we’re mostly in agreement: The movie is both reasonably entertaining and astonishingly stupid.
We didn’t take issue with the basic concept, which sees Charlize Theron leading a small group of immortal mercenaries. But the plotting feels arbitrary and lazy (yes, even by the standard of Hollywood action), with lots of clunky, on-the-nose dialogue — all the more disappointing since the screenplay was adapted by acclaimed comics writer Greg Rucka from the graphic novel he created with artist Leandro Fernández.
The debate, then, was whether “The Old Guard” remained delightful despite its dopiness, or whether the film’s virtues — Theron’s charisma and her commitment to the kinetic action scenes — only made it passably entertaining.
In addition to our review, the latest episode of the Original Content podcast also includes discussions of NBCUniversal’s newly-launched streaming service Peacock, Ted Sarandos’ appointment as co-CEO of Netflix, as well as mini-reviews of “Palm Springs” on Hulu and “Greyhound” on Apple TV+.
You can listen to our review in the player below, subscribe using Apple Podcasts or find us in your podcast player of choice. If you like the show, please let us know by leaving a review on Apple. You can also follow us on Twitter or send us feedback directly. (Or suggest shows and movies for us to review!)
If you’d like to skip ahead, here’s how the episode breaks down:
0:00 Intro
0:34 Peacock launch discussion
2:21 Ted Sarandos discussion
13:25 “Palm Springs” mini-review
18:20 “Greyhound” mini-review
26:44 “The Old Guard” trailer
43:01 “The Old Guard” spoiler discussion
