Netflix’s The Old Guard 2, the long-awaited follow-up to Charlize Theron’s 2020 action hit, arrived on the streaming giant just before the weekend. Fans had been waiting patiently for this follow up — but, unfortunately, the early reaction from both critics and fans suggests that maybe Netflix shouldn’t have bothered at all with this sequel.
Despite the return of Theron and the sight of Uma Thurman as a badass with a sword once again (a la Kill Bill), The Old Guard 2 seems like it will go down as yet another flop as far as Netflix original movies go. And you don’t have to take my word for it: As of this writing, Rotten Tomatoes has the sequel sitting at a dismal 25% from critics and just 40% from audiences, a sharp nosedive from the original film’s 80% and 71%, respectively.
What happened here? For one thing, there was a big change behind the camera, with Victoria Mahoney taking over as director from Gina Prince-Bythewood. Is that the reason the sequel is landing flat? It’s possible. To be fair, the film did immediately top Netflix’s movie ranking, but strong initial viewership obviously isn’t the same as impact that lasts. If anything, this sequel perfectly captures the ongoing dilemma Netflix faces in the movie game.
As we told you just a few days ago, The New York Times has published a reader-voted list of the top 100 films of the 21st century. Out of more than 200,000 votes and hundreds of original films Netflix has produced? Not a single one made the cut. The only slight connection was Knives Out, which Netflix didn’t even make — it just bought the rights to the sequels after the first film was a theatrical success.
For Netflix, that should be … sobering, to say the least. The streamer has poured millions into prestige projects like Roma, Marriage Story, and Mank. It’s hired award-winning filmmakers. And yet, the cultural footprint of these films remains almost nonexistent. The Old Guard 2 is just the latest example of a larger problem: Netflix has the money, and its movies feature plenty of talent. But for all the hype, very few of its original film seem to resonate in any lasting or meaningful way. They spike for a weekend or so, then vanish.
And, unfortunately for the sequel to The Old Guard, it looks like that’s probably going to be the same thing that happens here, too.
