Movie Review: ‘THE LAST STAND’

Believe it or not, this is the first time Arnold Schwarzenegger has been the star action hero in a decade.  Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines from 2003 was the last time we saw him do anything more than a glorified cameo, and it wasn’t really a fitting swan song.  But now that he’s done playing Governor of California and free of the sex scandals and dirt from his past, and he’s got a massive line up of releases planned for this year and beyond.  The first of these films is Korean maestro Jee-woon Kim’s American film debut The Last Stand.  Kim’s got, in my opinion, a nearly flawless filmography with A Tale of Two Sisters, A Bittersweet Life, and I Saw the Devil ranking in my all time favorites list.  Has he crafted another classic?  No.  Is it going to tarnish his status?  HELL no.  In fact, it’s a blast and an excellent way to transition into Hollywood.

The film deals with a death row sentenced, elaborately escaped drug lord who’s making a run for the border in a state of the art concept car.   He’s heading toward a small Texas town to make an effortless, conflict free journey into Mexico.  Road blocks can’t stop him.  The FBI can’t stop him.  He can even outrun a helicopter.  The last hope rests on a retired DEA agent from Los Angeles who is now a sheriff.  Kim manages to keep the film chugging along and breeze past questions you may have.  There’s no time to think about anything too deeply and before you know it the titular last stand is upon us.  The film is shot and edited with beauty and precision, respectively, and it’s perfectly rhythmic as far as action cinema goes.  And it doesn’t hold back in terms of “ooh!” moments, including lots of juicy wounds, a few dismemberments, and a blink and you could miss it halving by way of chain gun.

This movie sure is a melting pot of countries: Korea, Austria, Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Sweden…which is a pretty rare thing.  Whether it’s Kim’s inexperience with English directing or the cast itself, some of the more dramatic moments don’t tend to feel very genuine and often acting choices seem to be a bit misguided and bordering on parody.  Or perhaps not.  Kim and Schwarzenegger both have a similar strange, twisted sense of humor, and the script and character interactions are all a bit weird to begin with.  It’s great to see Arnold back in the action saddle!  He’s tough, he’s awkward, and he leans an interesting cast for support.  Luis Guzman is full of laughs, and Johnny Knoxville is especially effective as the town’s eccentric gun nut (he houses a “museum” of weaponry) and manages to get a few great laughs.  His man-child approach to a violent mind is really great and plays off of Arnold’s gruff, grizzled sheriff quite well.  And who can play psychotic and charismatic quite like Peter Stormare?  His henchman character is a terrific foil, much more so than Eduardo Noriega’s main heavy, and I would’ve liked to see more of him and Arnold interacting.

I really, really hate when someone refers to a film as “it’s not gonna win any awards” because that’s the dumbest, broad statement you could make.  The vast majority of films made never get award recognition and the remaining 10% often aren’t even worthy.  Having said that, it’s clear what you’re getting into with The Last Stand, and it has no false expectations in store.  It’s an enjoyable, logic-phobic action film; it’s a neo-Western through and through…if that’s a real thing.  Watching a small, Texas sheriff’s office attempt to take on a military death squad is a great concept, and Kim is totally prepared for the carnage.  Last Stand gives us an ultra-violent throwback to the 80’s where we fell in love with Schwarzenegger in the first place — the dudes are tough, nobody can aim, the bloody squibs fly, and you can’t think too deeply about anything.  Though he’s a lot older and not nearly as toned, he is STILL the undisputed king of the screen and proves it one kill at a time.  Here’s hoping that Arnold’s films to come are just as entertaining.