Although its moniker feels ancient, The Old Guard brings a ton of fresh perspectives into the action thriller genre. Gina Prince-Blythewood, a director who has received acclaim for Love & Basketball and Beyond the Lights, was an inspired choice to helm the feature, and I never envisioned If Beale Street Could Talk’s KiKi Layne anchoring this movie. We are conditioned to see such films directed by a male filmmaker with a bankable male action veteran with maybe a younger, charismatic male actor as the vet’s sidekick; so it’s refreshing to see whenever a film goes an entirely different direction. Basically, there are very few things that are “old” about this movie.