Title: The Last Stand
Directed by: Jee-woon Kim
Distributed by: Lionsgate
Release Date: January 18, 2013
Rated: R
Synopsis: The leader of a drug cartel busts out of a courthouse and speeds to the Mexican border, where the only thing in his path is a sheriff and his inexperienced staff. (Via IMDB)
Brian’s Review: Nobody I knew wanted to see this movie, and I guess most everyone else in the country felt the same way: The Last Stand, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s first starring role in ten years, bombed last weekend, making just six million for the weekend and ranking way down in tenth place. It barely beat Lincoln, which has been out for ten weeks. I’m surprised the interest in this film was so low because I know I can’t be the only fan of Schwarzenegger’s movies out there. His 80′s action flicks are classics, from The Terminator to Commando to The Running Man to Predator. And I grew up on his 90′s movies. The first R-rated movie I ever saw was True Lies at age nine, and ever since I’ve been enamored with the Arnold. And while I was happy for him being the Governator and all, I missed him for the last ten years, and I was ecstatic to hear that he was roaring back to the movies, not just with a supporting role in something like The Expendables 2, but with lead roles in a long line of films, which starts this month with The Last Stand, and continues down the road with new updates of Conan and Terminator. Arnold’s finally back, and I couldn’t be happier.
So how is The Last Stand, especially from someone who still thinks Arnold is the man? I had a total blast. If you go into this one with the right frame of mind, it’s pure fun, from beginning to end. I’ll even go out on a limb and say The Last Stand is Arnold’s best movie since True Lies, nineteen years ago. Now, he’s made a lot of stinkers in between, so that’s not saying a whole lot (his only good films since 1994 have been Eraser and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), but The Last Stand is solid action filmmaking, especially considering the film was dumped in the middle of January. Part of the success is that it was directed by Jee-woon Kim, a major talent from South Korea who made the acclaimed A Tale of Two Sisters and I Saw the Devil. He gives the film a unique look and makes the proceedings extremely bloody and tense; Jingle All the Way this isn’t.
Some people have complained that they don’t want to see Arnold as an action hero anymore, since he’s now in his mid-sixties. Well, I don’t want to see Arnold re-do Predator, either, but as long as the film he’s in acknowledges that he’s up there in age, that he’s not moving as fast and stealthy as he used to, I’m all good. And The Last Stand gives him a great character in that regard. He’s a sheriff who spent many years in L.A. working in narcotics, but moved to a small town in Arizona to live out his days as a sheriff. Arnold looks pretty rough in this movie, but that actually adds to the film’s charm. When he takes down bad guys in this one, you feel the pain when he slams his chest against the cement ground. His acting is still as rusty as ever; whenever he has more than two lines of dialog to deliver, he struggles. But this is still the same old Arnold, with fabulous one-liners (“I’m the sheriff”) and brutal confrontations (a nasty fight with the villain on a bridge).
The Last Stand isn’t a masterpiece by any means, but it tells a pretty cool story, with a solid ensemble of actors, and Schwarzenegger in top form. I also loved the way the film blends the western genre into the proceedings, in regards to the final big showdown in the small Arizona town. Arnold picked a great project for his big come-back and I for one am astonished so few people out there cared. The Last Stand is a solid piece of pop entertainment, and worth checking out for action fans.
