"The Old Guard" mixes Charlize Theron and immortality for a fresh take on overdone superheroes - Salon

Part of the widespread weariness with comic book film franchises is their sameness.

This insistence on remaining tethered to the reality of being human and of this world makes Charlize Theron's Andromache the Scythian – Andy, to her companions – one of the more refreshing figures in a genre that feels ever more saturated.

In spite of her character dating back to antiquity, Theron determinedly portrays Andy as a woman in this time, devoted to her family of circumstance and, as the film begins, more determined to keep all of them safe than risk exposure though risky missions, no matter how noble the cause or trustworthy the source.

Prince-Bythewood isn't simply making history here in becoming the first Black woman to direct a big budget superhero movie, by the way.

The plot of "The Old Guard" isn't all that original, but in drawing our attention to who these characters are as opposed to leaning upon the awe-inspiring moves they can pull off, the movie opts to be rich with emotional resonance as opposed to lousy with quips and explosions.

It isn't simply their lack of numbers that dogs them, but time and the nature of living.

Theron plays Andy with an armored exhaustion, someone for whom living through the centuries feels more like a pain than a gift.

An inability to overcome time feels right for this moment, somehow, or at least as relevant as the tale's acknowledgement that the world is so lost and humanity so bent on its destruction that even warriors who can live forever can only achieve a drop of righteous clarity in a morally polluted ocean.

The movie closes with another classic comic book film move, dropping an excitement-whetting post end-card scene that hints at where the story can go, should it receive the grace to continue.

"The Old Guard" is currently streaming on Netflix.