Sheriff Owens is a man who has resigned himself to a life of fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction after leaving his LAPD post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with failure and defeat after his partner was crippled. After a spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy, the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the hemisphere is hurtling toward the border at 200 mph in a specially outfitted car with a hostage and a fierce army of gang members. He is headed, it turns out, straight for Summerton Junction, where the whole of U.S. law enforcement will have their last opportunity to make a stand and intercept him before he slips across the border forever. At first reluctant to become involved, and then counted out because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, Owens ultimately accepts responsibility for the face off.
One of the best things I love about what I do here is being inspired. Just last week, word came that acclaimed Hollywood action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to return in
several film franchises, including
King Conan, the August filming of
The Expendables 3 under director
Patrick Hughes, and the fifth installment of the
Terminator series, which is formally set to begin shooting in January 2014 with Paramount Pictures distributing. And as enthusiastic as he appears to be in recent news, I look forward to seeing what he can bring back to either of these roles. Personally, if they want to make Schwarzenegger look younger, I suspect they might do motion capture or something similar to what they did for actor Jeff Bridges’s dual role in the 2010 film,
Tron Legacy. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Anyway, back to my thoughts here.
What I also look forward to is seeing how filmgoers respond to all this news with Schwarzenegger back in the limelight and out of politics. It hasn’t been easy at first, especially at the start of 2013 when films like
Parker and
Bullet To The Head flopped. To be honest, I still have to see the latter so I can have an opinion on it, and knowing me, I’ll probably have that one up as another Film Of The Week…which brings me to THIS week’s discussion on the latest film from Korean director
Kim Jee-woon,
The Last Stand.
I’m not at all familiar with Kim’s previous films, like
A Bittersweet Life and
The Good, The Bad & The Weird, but I love what he was able to do with this Hollywood production with an all-English cast. Plus it was Schwarzenegger’s first full stint back on the big screen since being Governor of California. And sure, while the former Governator is much older, the film clearly does not have him do anything he naturally cannot do for the camera himself. It doesn’t try too hard at making him look invincible, which is what A Good Day To Die Hard did when I saw it (probably part of the reason why I
fell asleep and missed the first half of the final act, lol).
Among those listed, Schwarzenegger is joined by actress Jaimie Alexander (pictured above) who is best known to me for her role as the noble Asgaardian Warrioress, Lady Syf in Thor and the upcoming Thor 2: The Dark World. She plays one of the deputies along with actors Zach Gilford, and the terrific talents of Rodrigo Santoro (pictured left) who I never would have recognized if I hadn’t known him for his spectacular role as Xerxes in 300 and the upcoming sequel, 300: Rise Of An Empire.
Luis Guzman and Johnny Knoxville serve brilliantly as the comedy relief just as any good old action flick should, firing their share of bullets at the bad guys and setting up some pretty hilarious exchanges along the way. Peter Stomare is awesome as ever as one of the eccentric henchmen of the film. Forest Whitaker‘s role was regrettably small at times, but he does a good job with it nonetheless as the long distance FBI Agent heading the search of an escaped international drug lord, played by actor Eduardo Noriega (pictured below), who holds his own both behind the wheel of a really fast Corvette, and while going toe-to-toe against Schwarzenegger near the end.
On its face, The Last Stand is a great addition to action cinema. Realistically speaking, however, while in the era of superhero movies loaded with CGI and green screen performances, the film doesn’t measure up for a lot of filmgoers these days who just can’t seem to relate to the badassery of 1980s and 1990s action movies where raw talent was all one really needed. But this does not necessarily mean The Last Stand sucked. Obviously, it is a way better film than some people chose to view it prior to even seeing it, thus unfortunately proving Stallone’s most recent point about the state of action movies in the second decade of the new millenium.
The bottom line? Schwarzenegger may have aged a bit while in office, but he has not lost his touch in the action genre one bit. Just as with the Arnold we got then, we still see the same charisma and charm, the same wit, and the same grit, strength and commanding screen presence we have always seen. Buzzcut and all. And while The Last Stand may not have been the most memorable or favorable for some critics, the film serves as yet another reminder of just what it is we love about action movies and why.
The Last Stand is part road movie, part revenge movie, part buddy cop movie, contained action thriller, and part everything we know and appreciate about what the last four decades have brought is in action movies. So if you have been putting off seeing it, then don’t wait. You can
rent it on Google Play or purchase the DVD or BluRay at
Amazon.com or wherever movies are sold or streamed.
Check back for further updates on Schwarzenegger’s next films listed above, in addition to the upcoming releases of
Sabotage and the
October 18, 2013 release of
The Escape Plan.
