Feature | Lights, Camera, Action! - The Last Stand

Lights, Camera, Action! - The Last Stand (UK Rating: 15)

It seems like old times. There are photos of Brucie, Sly and Arnie all over town advertising their new movies. In his first star role in 10 years, the 'guvernator,' Arnold Schwarzenegger, is back with exactly the right vehicle; the kind of old-fashioned B-movie action thriller that made him famous in the first place. A precision-tooled actioner, The Last Stand knows its place perfectly - no frills, just thrills, no pretentions, no nods to art, no appeals to the brain or intellect. It's just there to excite, amuse and entertain, which it does in spades. It's all about the action and a few laughs, and nobody could ever complain the action isn't convincing or well-staged or that it isn't fun.

Of course, it could be said that loads of big guns and bodies in an American town and that glorifying violence as the best, indeed only, reaction to a troublesome problem isn't exactly a good thing in today's climate, but, hey, the good guys are only fighting back and even then reluctantly. This is only a movie, harking back to the good ol' days of John Wayne, particularly his 1959 Rio Bravo film, with a bit of Assault on Precinct 13 and a little of Clint Eastwood thrown in. With it strong 80s feel, this is vintage stuff, then, hailing from a simpler, less complicated age.

Arnold looks pretty darned fit at 65, all things considered ("How are you, Sheriff?" some locals ask at a momentary lull in the action, to which the response is a swift "Old!"), and slips comfortably - indeed totally winningly - into the character of a semi-retired Deep South small town sheriff who has to assemble a rag-tag crew to stop an out-of-control drugs cartel bad guy getting through his territory and across the border (on a makeshift metal bridge) into Mexico and freedom. Older, a bit stiffer and slower he may be, but Arnold is credible and warm in this role, and can still do all the fights and shoot-outs the script chucks his way.

With good ol' Arnie perfectly cast as Sheriff Ray Owens, the support cast's just right too, with Forest Whitaker ideal as the sweaty head FBI agent hot on the heels of the antagonist when his paid thugs break him out of custody in a prisoner convoy (with a giant magnet on the end of a crane spectacularly lifting his vehicle Bond-style out of trouble!). Johnny Knoxville enjoys himself as the usual tricky / wacky comedy relief in the role of local arms freak Lewis Dinkum(!) who is deputised by Sheriff Schwarzenegger solely because he's got all the weapons the 'heroes' need. With his goofy look, daft iron helmet and shield as silly comedy props, Knoxville's fine, though perhaps it's lucky he doesn't really have too much to do.

Eduardo Noriega nails the meaty role of Gabriel Cortez, the nefarious evil with the big attitude, bigger hair, a mean side and a streak of white in his widow's peak, getting the snarling, moustache-twitching and lip-smacking spot on. Luis Guzman proves nice and nifty as the reluctant deputy and Peter Stormare (from Fargo) is neat and nasty as the incredibly evil henchman.

There are even three fairly decent roles for women in the movie, with Jaimie Alexander (Sif in Thor) proving a strong, feisty action heroine as the Sheriff's loyal little helper. If only they had provided a better role for the great Harry Dean Stanton - they kill him off after just one little scene! How could they?

Taking time to establish characters the viewer can care about and continuing to build on them as it goes along to its strongly staged climax of the big face-off, with the action getting faster and more furious on the way, The Last Stand is a more than a bit of a blast! The film's a big feather in the cap of South Korean director Kim Jee-Woon (famous for his horror classic, The Tales of Two Sisters, the rather sick and twisted I Saw the Devil, and the quirky Western, The Good, The Bad, The Weird, shades of which can definitely be seen in this), who shows his talent and class, elevating some familiar stock scenes and set pieces that could have been mundane with a lesser director. Could this be the first of many US films for him? Surely if this becomes a Box Office hit, then yes.

7/10

Very Good - Bronze Award

With the right mix of hard action, tense shootouts, high speed driving, and even a touch of light humour, the movie basically does exactly what it says on the tin, and that's great for Arnie's major comeback after moving out of politics, and following on from his extended role in The Expendables 2. If you thrill to see OAPs shooting up the bad guys, this is the one for you. What's that? RED: Retired, Extremely Dangerous.

However, the big question that has to be asked is: does it provide one of Arnold's legendary catchphrases? Well, do you think "You f***ed up my day off" will do it?