Old Guy (2025) Review

Plot: An aging hitman (Christoph Waltz) is forced to train a young prodigy (Cooper Hoffman) when his employer moves to replace the old guard. But when they learn they are being betrayed, the unlikely pair turns into a lethal team – with their double-crossing bosses in their sights.

Review: From director Simon West (Con Air, Expendables 2, The Mechanic) comes this new action comedy starring Christoph Waltz, Cooper Hoffman and Lucy Liu. I’d been looking forward to Old Guy mostly due to Simon West’s involvement as he has directed some classic action pictures in the past.

Although this is hardly up there with the likes of Con Air it’s still hugely entertaining with Christoph Waltz perfectly cast as an aging hitman who struggles to let go of past glories. He is bitter that his employers have brought in someone younger (Hoffman) and he is forced to take him under his wing to make sure he is more efficient at his job. Lucy Liu plays the love interest for Waltz and it’s nice to see her play someone so vulnerable; Waltz’s character is basically in love with her but she isn’t interested in getting together with a killer.

Old Guy has a lot of pitch black humour and some pathos as getting older is something we all struggle with in our lives. The banter between Waltz and Hoffman isn’t really funny but more acerbic as Waltz refuses to face reality.

On the action front there are multiple shoot-outs and the finale has a serious bodycount too; it’s for the most part well-paced but there aren’t too many big set-pieces in the first half. This is more of a character driven story however, the action is still plentiful and bloody.

Overall, Old Guy is darkly comedic and moves along at a decent pace with plenty of shoot-outs,  but this feels like it’s on a much smaller and more intimate scale than say Con Air or The Mechanic, so don’t expect anything crazy on the action front.