I weep for action movies. Many have become cartoons with bits and pieces of human beings inserted into them. Then, when a great flick finally comes along that does things old school, with cameras and stunts instead of computer animated hijinks, no one goes to see it.
All of the pieces were in place for “The Last Stand” to be a hit. For starters, it has Arnold Schwarzenegger, who’s finally returning to movies after spending eight years as governor of California. Say what you will about his politics, I’ve missed him at the movies. Sure, he’s 65, but so what? The “Terminator” movies have earned him a lifetime of good will, and Harrison Ford returned for a fourth turn as Indiana Jones when he was in his seventies. Plus, I hope I look that good, and am capable of swinging that hard, when I’m 65.
Besides, Schwarzenegger was a good sport about his age. In one scene, he goes flying through the door of a diner. As he gets up, the patrons ask him how he feels. “Old,” he says.
“The Last Stand” also has a director who knows how to shoot action - South Korean Jee-woon Kim. This is his first U.S. movie, and he knocked it out of the ballpark. The action is well shot, creatively choreographed, and edited with precision. There’s an intense shootout in a stairwell that’s going to stay with me for a while, a great scene in which the driver of a specially outfitted car takes out two SUVs with some crafty maneuvering, and a stunt with a bus that’s as over-the-top as movie action gets, but I lapped it up like a thirsty dog.
Jee-woon Kim also has a good eye for comedy, and lightens up some of the more intense moments with laugh-out-loud humor. “He was trespassing!” “Obliged.” You’ll have to see the movie to appreciate that exchange.
Basically, Jee-woon Kim directs the HECK out of this movie.
“The Last Stand” also has a script tailored to produce crowd-cheering action. Schwarzenegger stars as Sheriff Ray Owens, a man resigned to a life of maintaining order in the sleepy border town of Sommerton Junction after leaving his LAPD post following a bungled operation.
But Owens gets more than he bargained for when a notorious drug kingpin escapes an FBI prisoner convoy and begins speeding toward Mexico in a specially outfitted car. His path will take him through Summerton, where Owens and his handful of deputies will try to stop him.
At first, Owens is reluctant to become involved because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, but he ultimately rises to the occasion. “I’m not gonna let that guy come through our town without a fight,” he says with Schwarzenegger’s familiar Austrian accent.
Still speaking of the script, I like how the writers developed each of the supporting characters enough to flesh them out and make viewers care about them, but not so much the character development bogs down the action. There’s a romance between a female officer and an Army vet who can’t keep his lips off of the bottle, a young officer who longs for more excitement, and a gun-loving citizen who provides Owens and his team with the weapons they need. The popular character actor Luis Guzman makes the most of a role that serves as comedy relief.
As I was driving home after seeing “The Last Stand,” I wondered if there was anything I didn’t like about the movie. I guess so. There’s an awkward moment when Schwarzenegger tackles a bad guy and says “Game on,” and then he struggles to get up. I don’t think “Game on!” is going to catch on like “I’ll be back,” but it seems like the filmmakers were hoping it would. I cringed at this and a few other lines, but ultimately forgave them.
As I wrote, I weep for action movies. “The Last Stand” is guilty pleasure cinema at its best, full of blistering action and belly laughs. The few people in the theater with me loved it, and made a lot of noise to show their approval. I had a grin on my face from beginning to end. It’s a shame the movie has bombed. I guess that means audiences would rather see computer animated spectacle, which has its place, but can’t hold a candle to a truly live action FILM.
Maybe this is Schwarzenegger’s last stand. If it is, he’s going out having made one of his finest.
Rated R for violence and gore. Three-and-a-half stars out of four.