Friday 27 August 2021

Old Guard (2020)


Based on the comic book mini series of the same name from Image comics, the collected issues can now be acquired to read as a graphic novels. Its the story of immortals, from whichever century they were born from; they were soldiers who found purpose in their existence by serving a greater good in humanity from the gift of their immortality.  The reciprocal is that the world is filled of hypocrisy and the evils of men and women, The film kind of narrates that over time that this cynical threat is why they remain hidden from the world, and help from the shadows.

The film visualizes they have no super powers or strength, only they just can't die. So its an examination of historic conditions to contain and manage them as they are seen as a threat that can't be understand or controlled.  The film is very grounded in real world applications so the special effects is centered on human repair from incident rather than big gun explosions or elaborate car chases.  The psychological and emotional scars of memory when you out live family and friends. The horrors of confinement and experimentation are touched upon in this film and the era in which extreme measures are practiced are viewed.


That being said, the comic book story was written by Greg Rucka who adapted the screenplay.  Something rarely done in films; Rucka who was in close contact with the director Gina Prince-Bythewood explained changes in script to suit a better interpretation on the screen, as this was the first comic adapted movie she was involved in and had read the original source material.  The comic book artist  was Leandro Fernandez and his work also served as a contributing storyboard when preparing the visual elements of the motion picture.  A fun fact - the budget of this movie was $70 Million dollars, Netflix revealed in its first week of release Old Guard was viewed in 70 Million homes.



No comments:

Post a Comment