The Old Guard 2 (2025) review

Picking up where the original 2020 release left off, this sequel (about a group of immortal beings slicing each other up) centers again on warrior Andromache (Charlize Theron) - who's "lost" her ability to live forever - reuniting with old friend Quỳnh (Veronica Ngô) - who's understandably upset over being trapped in an iron maiden at the bottom of the ocean for centuries - and the way the two of them challenge cruel "god" Discord (Uma Thurman) because of her desire to destroy the entire civilization (which, at this point, sounds like a grand idea).  The first movie didn't do a whole lot for me, but the "storytelling" here is absolutely befuddling: it's comprised of a bunch of scenes that got dragged and dropped out of the Recycle Bin, the dialogue is banal (most of the "discussions" involve the nature of "immortality") and the frequent globetrotting doesn't make it richer experience (there were also apparently production issues that took time to be resolved, but that's not much of an excuse for a product this crummy).  Ironically, just when it starts to gather up some energy, the closing credits appear and there's no proper conclusion: I can't imagine many viewers enjoying the delayed gratification.