Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The Last Stand - Movie Review


There are movies that become memorable experiences and then there are movies you wish you could forget. The return of an action hero icon should fall in to the former category and Arnold Schwarzenegger does his best to make that happen. South Korean director Jee-woon Kim brings his offbeat style to a production that everyone hopes will bring "The Governator" back to big screen prominence.


After a career in the Los Angeles narcotics unit, Sheriff Ray Owens (Schwarzenegger) has found a much more peaceful existence watching over the small border town of Summerton. A normal day consists of getting cats out of trees and other mundane tasks, Owens has developed an eye for anything that might be out of the ordinary. Just when some unexpected passersby have him on edge, the Sheriff receives a call from FBI agent John Bannister who warns him that an escaped convict may be heading his way.


Having escaped an FBI transport convoy, drug cartel kingpin Gabriel Cortez races towards the border in a stolen sleek and sexy custom corvette that is only matched in beauty by his hostage, Agent Ellen Richards (Genesis Rodriguez) . Little does he know that an aging law man and a rag tag band of law enforcers is down the road preparing to put an end to his daring escape.


Yes, this movie is full of bad acting, worse dialog, and so many action movie clichés, you can easily imagine this movie was made back in the mid 80's but then you get a look at Ah-nold and realize you definitely have not gone back in time. Of course there are more than a few gunfights to go along with some slick car chases, but what you will find most enjoyable about this movie is just seeing Arnold do what he does best. Sure, he's a lot slower and not nearly as gloriously musclebound as he once was, but you won't really care.


As the body count of generic bad guys begins to pile up as quickly as the shot gun shells that are used to knock them off, you will find yourself laughing, groaning, cringing, and even cheering at the absurdity of it all. I find it very difficult to call The Last Stand a good movie as there are so many things wrong with it, but I still found myself strangely satisfied with the end result. Schwarzenegger fans should like this film, but without him in it, this is nothing more than a sub par, straight to video action film.


1 comment :

  1. I saw this the other night in an advanced screening. Cheesy fun is definitely how I will describe it. But one thing REALLY annoyed me. The whole Chevy product placement in this movie was just WAY over the top… I mean, I understand product placement, I really do, but whent hey start talking about the car, giving stats on it, showing digital 360 views of the car like you’re on their website reading about it, it’s a little annoying…

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