The Last Stand

 

It almost seems like we expect our action heroes in today's movies to be over the hill these days.  Sylvester Stallone has pretty much built the later half of his career by cashing in on his former legacy, and refusing to move beyond the movies from the 80s that made him one of the bigger celebrities of that time.  Heck, even the latest James Bond adventure, Skyfall, was pretty much built around the fact that old Bond just wasn't as young as he used to be.  Now we get The Last Stand, Arnold Schwarzenegger's first starring role in about 10 years.  He looks a little weathered now, a little slower, and now he has to rely on Johnny Knoxville from Jackass for support in taking out the bad guys, when in the past, he probably could have taken them all out by himself.  Signs of aging, or sign of the times?

The Last Stand is corny, relentlessly violent, and quite comical at times.  In other words, it's a Schwarzenegger vehicle.  By those standards, the movie works.  It marks the Hollywood directing debut of South Korean filmmaker, Jee-woon Kim, and in all honesty, he does bring some style to the gunplay.  But, let's be honest, it's Arnold we're here to see.  Does he still have it after years of being the "Govern-ator"?  In all honesty, I say yes.  Here, he reminds me a little of Clint Eastwood, in that he is still intimidating, but is not afraid to let the toll of age show.  When he smashes through a window or falls from a high drop, he limps a little, or struggles to get back up again.  But, you can tell that he could probably smash through another few windows, and still be okay.  His acting hasn't improved much, but since when have people gone to a Schwarzenegger picture for the emotion and the performances?  In this movie, you get a lot of stuff getting blown up impressively, a lot of one-liners that are actually kind of funny, and Arnold being Arnold.  Oh, you also get to see a little old lady blow away a thug with a shotgun.  What more could you want?

Schwarzenegger plays Ray Owens, the sheriff of the small little town of Sommerton, which lies on the Arizona and Mexico border.  Ray is expecting a quiet weekend.  Most of the town has left to cheer on the local high school football team at a championship game, leaving just a few of the town weirdos and one or two law officials behind.  Meanwhile, over in Las Vegas, a Mexican drug lord by the name of Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega) escapes from the transport vehicle carrying him to maximum security prison, and promptly gets behind the wheel of a souped up Corvette, where he immediately brings chaos and destruction to the streets, and any law enforcement that tries to stop him.  The FBI agent pursuing him (Forest Whitaker) soon discovers that Gabriel is heading toward Sommerton, and is going to try to cross over into Mexico.

The FBI gets a hold of Ray to try to warn him, but it seems they are too late.  Cortez's army of thugs have already shown up in the sleepy little town, and are preparing for his arrival.  They murder a local farmer, and kill one of Ray's officers.  That's enough to send Ray on the warpath, and convince him to fight to protect his town.  He gathers up a large arsenal provided by the town wacko and gun enthusiast (Johnny Knoxville), puts together a small band of heroes to fight alongside him, and stages an all out war against Cortez's goons.  Cue the violent gun fights, big explosions, and over the top brutal (and sometimes comical) ends for anyone who tries to get in Ray's way.  To be fair, The Last Stand is more than just gratuitous violence.  There's a lot of humor provided by Schwarzenegger's co-stars, including Knoxville and Luis Guzman, and the villains are slimy and easy to hate.  Everybody does their jobs very well here.

I also liked it how the movie almost parodies the fact that whenever there's a big action sequence in a populated street or area, nobody ever seems to notice.  This movie is smart enough to at least acknowledge it, by having Ray run into a local diner before the bad guys arrive, and try to get everyone to safety.  The locals won't budge, however, until they finish their omelets.  Realizing they won't leave, Ray just advises them to stay inside.  Sure enough, later on during the climactic fight, when Ray is tossed through the window of that same diner, the locals are still inside, acting like nothing's going on outside, and casually ask the sheriff how he's feeling.  This only adds to the fun of the movie.  Yes, it works as an action thrill ride.  But it's also smart enough to poke fun at itself at the same time.

 

If weekend box office reports are to be believed, The Last Stand is underperforming with audiences.  That means it likely won't stand a chance, as studios usually only look at the opening weekend grosses, then move on to their next release.  It's too bad, really, because I found this to be a lot more fun and energetic than some other recent examples of old school action films, such as The Expendables and its sequel.  I don't think it will derail Schwarzenegger's attempt at a comeback, but it might make studios take pause a little.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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