The Last Stand
3/4
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jaimie Alexander, Eduardo Noriega, Rodrigo Santoro, Luis Guzman, Zach Gilford, Johnny Knoxville, Forest Whitaker
Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence Throughout, and Language
During the 1980's and 1990's, there was no bigger action star than Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sure, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone gave him a run for his money, but Arnold reigned king. He debuted on the screen in 1969 with "Hercules in New York," but his real fame came thirteen years later when he starred in "Conan the Barbarian." Two years after that, his superstardom was assured, when he stepped in front of the camera for James Cameron and played the iconic role of the Terminator. His star faded a little by the end of the nineties, and when he entered politics in 2003, he all but vanished from the screen (he did appear in a few cameos over the next 8 years). But when you're as big as Arnold Schwarzenegger, you can never really fade away.
Which brings us to "The Last Stand," Schwarzenegger's first starring role after being governor. It's a return to what made Arnold famous: blow huge numbers of bad guys away with a huge amount of firepower and show off his impressive physique.
In terms of plot, "The Last Stand" is a modern-day "High Noon" amped up about 20 times. Schwarzenegger plays Ray Owens, who is the Sheriff of Sommerton Junction, a tiny town on the border of Mexico. Owens used to be a member of the LAPD, but years ago he retired to the tiny, out of the way town. And that's just the way he likes it.
Trouble comes his way when notorious drug kingpin Gabriel Cortez (Noriega) escapes from custody and makes a run for the border. Normally one man driving a (very souped up Corvette) wouldn't be much of a problem, but Cortez is very powerful, and has a number of hired stooges helping him. FBI agent John Bannister (Whitaker) is frantically tracking him, but Cortez slips out of his grasp every time. Their last chance of stopping Cortez from reaching freedom is Owens and his deputies, rookies Sarah Torrance (Alexander) and Jerry Bailey (Gilford) and dim bulb Mike "Figgy" Figuerola (Guzman). Also joining the fight are war hero turned town drunk (and Sarah's ex) Frank Martinez (Santoro) and gun-loving whacko Lewis Dinkum (Knoxville).
Acting-wise, the film is adequate, although no one goes to a Schwarzenegger movie to see powerful acting. Schwarzenegger, whose reputation as an actor is a little underrated (see "T2" and "True Lies" for examples), is a little rusty, but he quickly finds his groove. Jaimie Alexander is adequate, while Zach Gilford is pretty good. Rodrigo Santoro sort of fades into the background. And Johnny Knoxville and Luis Guzman are on hand for comic relief (which they both excel at). Forest Whitaker is surprisingly awful. Either he's miscast or he's not cut out for this kind of a role, but the result is the same.
Every action movie needs a good villain. "Die Hard" has Hans Gruber. "Face/Off" has Castor Troy. "Speed" has Howard Payne. "The Terminator" has The Terminator. "T2" has the T-1000. "The Last Stand" has...Gabriel Cortez. Suffice it to say, Gabriel Cortez is not going down as one of the great action movie villains. He's rather bland, and his end leaves a lot to be desired.
The film is directed by the South Korean filmmaker Jee-woon Kim. It's a solid American debut (Kim made waves in the arthouse circut with "I Saw the Devil" and "The Good, The Bad and the Weird"), especially because he takes chances. Kim tries to mix the summer action genre with some rather bleak tragedy. It's not a perfect mix, but it at least changes things up a little.
So far this movie hasn't done well at the box office (not that it will make much difference for Arnold...he's too big of a star to have his career completely fade away after one flop. And he's got about a half dozen new projects in the pipeline). It's a shame, but it's understandable. It's January and although it's good enough to have been released in the summer, it might have been lost in the summer blitz. Also, after the recent Newton shootings it might be too soon for some to watch a loud and bloody action movie (despite the fact that in no way bears any similarity to a massacre like that). Still, as a critic, it's my job to encourage people to see movies that are worth seeing and to avoid ones that aren't. This is one of the former.
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jaimie Alexander, Eduardo Noriega, Rodrigo Santoro, Luis Guzman, Zach Gilford, Johnny Knoxville, Forest Whitaker
Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence Throughout, and Language
During the 1980's and 1990's, there was no bigger action star than Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sure, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone gave him a run for his money, but Arnold reigned king. He debuted on the screen in 1969 with "Hercules in New York," but his real fame came thirteen years later when he starred in "Conan the Barbarian." Two years after that, his superstardom was assured, when he stepped in front of the camera for James Cameron and played the iconic role of the Terminator. His star faded a little by the end of the nineties, and when he entered politics in 2003, he all but vanished from the screen (he did appear in a few cameos over the next 8 years). But when you're as big as Arnold Schwarzenegger, you can never really fade away.
Which brings us to "The Last Stand," Schwarzenegger's first starring role after being governor. It's a return to what made Arnold famous: blow huge numbers of bad guys away with a huge amount of firepower and show off his impressive physique.
In terms of plot, "The Last Stand" is a modern-day "High Noon" amped up about 20 times. Schwarzenegger plays Ray Owens, who is the Sheriff of Sommerton Junction, a tiny town on the border of Mexico. Owens used to be a member of the LAPD, but years ago he retired to the tiny, out of the way town. And that's just the way he likes it.
Trouble comes his way when notorious drug kingpin Gabriel Cortez (Noriega) escapes from custody and makes a run for the border. Normally one man driving a (very souped up Corvette) wouldn't be much of a problem, but Cortez is very powerful, and has a number of hired stooges helping him. FBI agent John Bannister (Whitaker) is frantically tracking him, but Cortez slips out of his grasp every time. Their last chance of stopping Cortez from reaching freedom is Owens and his deputies, rookies Sarah Torrance (Alexander) and Jerry Bailey (Gilford) and dim bulb Mike "Figgy" Figuerola (Guzman). Also joining the fight are war hero turned town drunk (and Sarah's ex) Frank Martinez (Santoro) and gun-loving whacko Lewis Dinkum (Knoxville).
Acting-wise, the film is adequate, although no one goes to a Schwarzenegger movie to see powerful acting. Schwarzenegger, whose reputation as an actor is a little underrated (see "T2" and "True Lies" for examples), is a little rusty, but he quickly finds his groove. Jaimie Alexander is adequate, while Zach Gilford is pretty good. Rodrigo Santoro sort of fades into the background. And Johnny Knoxville and Luis Guzman are on hand for comic relief (which they both excel at). Forest Whitaker is surprisingly awful. Either he's miscast or he's not cut out for this kind of a role, but the result is the same.
Every action movie needs a good villain. "Die Hard" has Hans Gruber. "Face/Off" has Castor Troy. "Speed" has Howard Payne. "The Terminator" has The Terminator. "T2" has the T-1000. "The Last Stand" has...Gabriel Cortez. Suffice it to say, Gabriel Cortez is not going down as one of the great action movie villains. He's rather bland, and his end leaves a lot to be desired.
The film is directed by the South Korean filmmaker Jee-woon Kim. It's a solid American debut (Kim made waves in the arthouse circut with "I Saw the Devil" and "The Good, The Bad and the Weird"), especially because he takes chances. Kim tries to mix the summer action genre with some rather bleak tragedy. It's not a perfect mix, but it at least changes things up a little.
So far this movie hasn't done well at the box office (not that it will make much difference for Arnold...he's too big of a star to have his career completely fade away after one flop. And he's got about a half dozen new projects in the pipeline). It's a shame, but it's understandable. It's January and although it's good enough to have been released in the summer, it might have been lost in the summer blitz. Also, after the recent Newton shootings it might be too soon for some to watch a loud and bloody action movie (despite the fact that in no way bears any similarity to a massacre like that). Still, as a critic, it's my job to encourage people to see movies that are worth seeing and to avoid ones that aren't. This is one of the former.
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