“The Old Guard 2” is plagued by second-movie problems.

When “The Old Guard” arrived on Netflix in July 2020 — a time when, admittedly, a lot of us were still spending a lot of time cooped up inside, desperate for halfway-decent streaming entertainment — it was a largely welcome slice of supernatural action fare.

Based on a series of graphic novels of the same name by writer Greg Rucka and comic book artist Leandro Fernández, “The Old Guard” sees Charlize Theron portraying Andromache of Scythia, aka “Andy,” an immortal. She has fought the good fight for centuries, to humanity's benefit, and these days leads a team of others who can’t be killed, including their newest recruit, Nile (KiKi Layne, “If Beale Street Could Talk”). At its conclusion, we learn Andy’s onetime partner, Quynh (Veronica Ngô), has been freed from her underwater sarcophagus, which could mean bad things for Andy.

“The Old Guard 2” — which debuted on Netflix on July 2 — is less of the same.

Penned, like its predecessor, by Rucka, the sequel picks up with Andy dealing with the fact that, as a result of an event from the first film, she has lost her immortality. Like her CIA operative pursuer-turned-ally, James Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), she not only can be killed but also (gasp!) gets a hangover when she drinks a lot with her mates.

“I don’t know how you do it, Copley,” she says.

She soon learns of Quynh’s resurfacing from former team member Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts), exiled for betraying the team and paid a visit by Quynh at the end of “The Old Guard.”

Quynh’s strings are being pulled by a mysterious new figure, Discord (Uma Thurman, “Pulp Fiction”), who’s briefly introduced in the film’s opening scene. Who she is and what she wants and why are revealed as the tale unfolds.

In the meantime, Andy turns to an old friend, another newcomer to the narrative, Tuah (Henry Golding, “Another Simple Favor”), an immortal who maintains and guards the group’s history. He discovers what has made Andy mortal and sees the dangerous implications of this development.

Director Victoria Mahoney (“Yelling to the Sky”) helms this affair and struggles to find the rhythm established by the director of “The Old Guard,” Gina Prince-Bythewood. “The Old Guard 2” moves at a clunky pace, never allowing the viewer to get swept up in what’s happening.

Worse, Rucka’s screenplay fails to serve most of its characters. This is especially disappointing when it comes to Copley, considering the immense talent of “12 Years a Slave” star Ejiofor. Even Layne’s Nile, while crucial to the story, is little more than a background player here. And returning lovers Joe (Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky (Luca Marinelli)? They get one touching moment together but very little else.

It sure feels like everyone from Rucka to Mahoney to Theron, who’s counted among the movie’s producers, are following marching orders to prioritize setting up a yet-to-be-ordered third installment in the series. The ending is a particular bummer, as it is neither a satisfying conclusion to a part of the story nor a juicy cliffhanger.

And while she falls short of the on-screen work she turned in the first time around, Theron is still an asset, doing her best work in the scenes she shares with Schoenaerts.

To be fair, “The Old Guard 2” is watchable, and it boasts a decent action sequence here and there. However, it’s certainly far from compelling.

It’s not difficult to imagine that, were there to be a third “Old Guard,” it would be at least a somewhat stronger piece of work. Were it designed to serve as the conclusion of a trilogy, it, if nothing else, almost surely would come across more purposeful than this largely uninspired second movie.

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‘THE OLD GUARD 2’

2 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for sequences of graphic violence and some language)

Running time: 1:45

How to watch: Netflix

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