In fact it’s got to be one of the most enduring same sex relationships ever depicted on screen, as the pair have been together for close to a millennium. The men can more than hold their own in battle as the film’s first mission makes clear and that they are in a very long-term relationship isn’t something that’s coyly hinted at. In Nicky and Joe, we get the gay action heroes we’ve been waiting for. THE OLD GUARD (L to R) MARWAN KENZARI as JOE and LUCA MARINELLI as NICKY in THE OLD GUARD. While we still have a few months to wait until we finally see Lashana Lynch as Nomi in No Time to Die, The Old Guard delivers us an all too rare Black female action hero, and Layne convinces with a compelling mix of vulnerable and deadly as the newly minted immortal combatant. There’s an acrobatic vibe to their movements that entertains, but crucially we believe it’s the characters fighting one another, not the actors’ stunt doubles. It’s a delight to see Theron driving through the desert as a badass again, recalling her stunning turn in Mad Max: Fury Road, and Layne and Theron seriously sell their thrillingly choreographed hand-to-hand combat within the confines of an airborne cargo plane. As Andy tracks Nile down and attempts to persuade her that’s she’s a fellow immortal, some stunning action set pieces stylishly unfurl. Meanwhile a US Marine stationed in Afghanistan, Nile (KiKi Layne), begins to have potent visions of the Old Guard after she survives what should have been a deadly incident in the field. THE OLD GUARD (2020) L-R: Kiki Layne (“Nile”), Charlize Theron (“AndyÓ). Copley is in cahoots with the ruthless, hoodie wearing “youngest CEO in Big Pharma”, Merrick (Harry Melling), who sees the immortals as nothing more than highly prized lab rats to experiment on and help move him up a few places on the Forbes rich list.
When things go bloodily awry, it quickly becomes apparent that they were set up. When we first meet the group in Morocco they haven’t taken on a job for a year and Andy has become seriously jaded, as television screens are filled grim news, she questions the group’s purpose, while new technology makes it increasingly challenging to remain anonymous “The world can burn for all I care”, she says, “I’m done.” Reluctantly though she agrees to a rescue mission of some kidnapped schoolgirls in South Sudan at the request of former CIA agent James Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor).
She’s the head of an international quartet of immortal altruistic warriors, the Old Guard a chosen family comprising herself, the relatively youthful two hundred or so year old Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts), and gay couple Joe (Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky (Luca Marinelli). After all Andy has been alive for several millennia. Everyone knows it’s impolite to ask a woman her age, but in the case of Andromache the Scythian, better known as Andy (Charlize Theron), the reason that she won’t reveal hers might just be that she’s lost count of her birthdays.