Well wouldn’t you know it, Sylvester Stallone isn’t the only aging action star that put out a movie in 2013. Mr. Olympia himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, put out his own action flick and this time it was a return to the genre that made him the man he is today or the man that he was today. The Last Stand is another movie, much like Bullet to the Head, that is light on everything, but brings the action head on with some light hearted comedy thrown in for good measure, more so due to Ji-woon Kim’s first foray into American action movies. Yes, Ji-woon Kim of I Saw The Devil, The Good The Bad & The Weird, and finally A Tale of Two Sisters fame is doing a full blown American action film. The results, a surprisingly undemanding action flick.
After leaving his LAPD narcotics post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with remorse and regret, Sheriff Ray Owens (Schwarzenegger) moved out of Los Angeles and settled into a life fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction. But that peaceful existence is shattered when Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the western hemisphere, makes a deadly yet spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy. (c) Lionsgate
Well Arnold said he would be back at some point and his official feature film that has him as a leading man certainly isn’t the strongest entry in his storied career, but it ain’t the worst folks. The Last Stand certainly is infused with some humor, solid action scenes and a shit show plot, but Ji-woon Kim makes it all worth while when it comes to the final showdown on a bridge over a gorge. Some will deride that Arnold is getting to old for this shit and rightly so. The man is damn near 70 (65 to be exact) and he just lumbers through the movie, almost having his body have go through some sort of muscle memory reflex because he definitely goes through the motions of this action flick. I half expected him to say, “I’m getting too old for this shit” which he almost does, but damn if it isn’t something special to watch him still wield a gun and dispense some justice in a western, showdown setting.
Arnold doesn’t have to go at this film alone, with supporting cast of Jamie Alexander, Luis Guzman, Forrest Whitaker, and Peter Stormare, it’s a great set of secondary characters, although I wish I could forget about Johnny Knoxvilles presence. I wasn’t one hundred percent center on what the fuck his role was and if his character was slow or mentally handicapped. Not sure which is more offensive if that is the case. Anyways, as annoying as his character is, it all gets washed away since everyone is just enjoying their time in the movie and the acting is sub-par at best. It’s still a fun time though watching some banter happen here and there, while they all do what they are supposed to in the end.
While the acting is exactly what you expect, the action is where we get the money shots of the film. Whether it is a final fight on a bridge, a big ass shoot out in an abandoned town, or a high speed chase through a cornfield, it is a fucking fun ride. The movie builds toward this final action sequence that is actually the final 20 odd minutes of the movie with glorious gun battles and some utterly baffling gun physics and hits. I mean you see dudes get shot with sniper rifle that looks like it cut them in half, but are merely flesh wounds. And it’s like that for all the good guys while the baddies get the worst of the bullets. It’s a fun action flick that doesn’t demand anything of its viewer other than to realize they are watching an older Arnold lumber through an action flick, which he does well.
Give it a shot cause I honestly didn’t think I would enjoy this flick as much as I did, especially considering Ji-woon Kim is directing. He definitely adds his flair given his background.
