He said he'd be back.
Assuming Arnold Schwarzenegger's "promising" political career is a thing of the past, The Last Stand puts him back in a governmental position that's nothing like the position he once held. Schwarzenegger (The Expendables 2) is Sheriff Ray Owens, an ex-L.A. narcotics officer who has retired to the small town of Sommerton Junction.
Directed by Jee-woon Kim (Doomsday Book), the film centers on dangerous mob boss Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega, Una pistola en cada mano) andhis escape from death row during a federal prisoner convoy led by FBI agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker, A Dark Truth). Cortez escapes, and after a few close calls, the nearby Sheriff is finally notified that Cortez is on the loose and may pass through on his way to Mexico. This isn't the first time we've seen Noriega and Whitaker on opposite sides. In 2008, they faced-off against each other in Vantage Point.
As expected of any R-rated movie, The Last Stand features excessive ass kicking and gratuitous gore. The first half of the movie may be slow, but the second half is absolutely worth seeing if only for unadulterated, totally over-the-top action scenes, despite the complete lack of plot progression. Who wouldn't want to see Arnold Schwarzenegger's first lead role since the ever so anticipated Terminator 3?
As far as visual composition, Kim's directorial vision is lost behind sub-par acting and endless bullets. Half the movie is concentrated on the drudgingly slow build up and the other half (in between spurts of blood) is spent admiring a rare Corvette C6 ZR1. The car might be a result of poor product placement or Kim might truly believe cars are still iconic in movies. Regardless,as any type of theme became prevalent, it was lost. It seems that Kim got a little lost in his story, or at least distracted enough to forget that he wasn't filming a commercial.
As problematic as this movie is, there's no aspect more problematic than Cortez, the lead villain. Noriega could play this part as well as anyone, as seen with his performance in Tesis. It's just unclear whether he felt restricted by the script, which was originally written by Andrew Knauer, then rewritten by Jeffrey Nachmanoff and "supervised" by George Nolfi, or he was bored with his character. All in all, his performance pales in comparison to all of the other villains in previous Schwarzenegger flicks.
Regardless of all its flaws, if you find yourself craving classic Arnold Schwarzenegger one-liners, you should stand up right now and go see The Last Stand. Don't let its poor box office results discourage you. But if not, The Tomb always comes out in September.
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Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
