Uma Thurman and Henry Golding join the returning cast in this follow-up to 2020’s adaptation of the graphic novel series about immortal soldiers battling to protect humanity.

Perhaps that also has to do with the quality of “The Old Guard 2,” which feels like a step down from the first movie, which provided much-needed escapism in the summer of 2020 as we met Theron’s Andromache the Scythian (Andy, for short) and welcomed KiKi Layne’s new immortal Nile.

T he Old Guard 2 (now on Netflix) is a sequel to a movie I remember enjoying, but five years hence, I’m hard-pressed to remember exactly why. The Old Guard, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, was a hit,