Andrew Soh

"The Old Guard 2" unfortunately falls flat and, in my opinion, should have ended with the strong first installment. While the premise of immortal warriors remains intriguing, this sequel struggles to find its footing and delivers a largely disappointing experience. One of the most jarring and frankly disturbing issues for me, and I imagine for many South East Asian audiences, was a scene supposedly taking place in Jakarta, Indonesia at Serpong Nuclear Facility where the mortal guards were inexplicably speaking Mandarin. What made it worse was that they sounded distinctly like they were from mainland China, instead of speaking Bahasa Indonesia. To add to this oversight, even the signs within the facility were in Chinese! This glaring error highlights a severe lack of basic research on the part of the producers and writers. It's not just a minor oversight; it's a sign of disrespect to the culture and language of the setting they chose to depict. This kind of inaccuracy pulls you completely out of the film and shows a lazy approach to world-building that is unacceptable in modern cinema. Beyond this significant flaw, the plot felt convoluted, and the character development didn't live up to the potential established in the first movie. It's a shame to see a promising franchise stumble so badly. Save your time and just rewatch the original.