THE OLD GUARD has become the top action choice on Netflix and the well-received film, based on Greg Rucka's comic book of the same name and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, is a showcase of some pretty impressive fight scenes. Netflix has released a fight training video that shows how Charlize Theron and the rest of the cast got into proper fighting shape.
The cast revealed that they had to do sword training, gun training, and tactical training. Charlize, specifically, had to learn how to fight with a gun on one hand and an ax in the other. She says, "I obviously had to fight like somebody who has been fighting for 6,000 years, and that level of perfection is really hard to come by." Fight coordinator Danny Hernandez also explained that they explored a lot of different moves:
"Judo is the art of taking someone down, pretty much. We have aikido. We went to silat, which is actually an Indonesian martial art. We went to the Filipino martial arts with kali. We went to Northern, Southern kung fu. We went to hung gar. We also did a little bit of the wushu aspect. Definitely a little bit of tae kwan do from the Korean. We also went to Greco-Roman wrestling. Pankration. We went to iaido, with kendo, [both of which] are Japanese martial arts."
The first fight scene happens 14 minutes in and finds Andy (Theron), Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts), Joe (Marwan Kenzari), and Nicky (Luca Marinelli), fighting side by side and the fight coordination is a sight to behold. You can tell that they were dedicated to the training and every attempt was made to make the actors look authentic as possible.
THE OLD GUARD follows a covert team of immortal mercenaries that are suddenly exposed and must now fight to keep their identity a secret just as an unexpected member is discovered. The film also stars Kiki Layne, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Harry Melling, Van Veronica Ngo, and Natacha Karam.
Have YOU had the chance to check out THE OLD GUARD?