At the Theater - "The Last Stand" - Arnold's first leading role in more than a decade (2003's Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines) is a bit of a rusty, clunky baby-step- it's a lower-budgeted star vehicle quickie (as opposed to an actual event movie) that's still a passable guilty pleasure. Although it could have easily been reworked to star any one of the current crop of action stars (both young and old alike) and gone straight to video, it's Arnie's inherent presence and modest humor that keeps it afloat. Expect a headed-for-a-showdown Nuevo-Western with bits of goofball corniness and brash, bloody violence.
This release marks South Korean Director Jee-woon Kim's first "Americanized" effort- his 2008 film, The Good, The Bad & The Weird had such a natural, exciting flow that I couldn't help but wonder if certain elements of this particular production were lost in translation. Several scenes involving simple dialogue and ad-libbed stabs at humor have an awkward first-take feel to them, with little effort given in the way of fine-tuning. A few action sequences threaten to jump the logistical rails, especially in a third act grudge match featuring a ZL1 Camaro and a ZR1 Corvette that plays out more like a high-octane GM commercial. It's the outlandish and unbelievable nature of the stunts that reminded me of the Transporter and Fast & Furious films that I've never really found an appreciation for. That's a personal preference issue that most will probably enjoy...
Schwarzennegger moves and looks O.K.as small town Sheriff, "Ray Owens" - the 65 year old actor's face is appropriately weathered with far less apparent makeup and hair styling than the last few films he made before his stint as California's Governor. I can't really say there was ever a moment where I spotted an obvious stunt double although we all know there had to be. Expect a few funny references to his age and to past roles- the Atlantean sword from Conan The Barbarian even has a cameo.
Eduardo Noriega (The Devil's Backbone 2001) supplies a very good villain here as the Drug Cartel leader who's escaped custody and headed to the Mexican border with a FBI agent hostage (the lovely Genesis Rodriguez) in tow. Noriega does a fine job of being slick and despicable and delivers his lines with panache.
Forest Whitaker, as the FBI agent trying to track our villain's progress from "mission control", is as professional as ever (I'm a fan). The underrated veteran actor appears to believe he's in a much more prestigious film and gives a sharp and likeable performance.
In contrast, Peter Stormare (Fargo) is absolutely awful as our Villain's right-hand henchman and escape coordinator- if you can place the accent he's trying for, you're some kind of special. Some of his reactionary snippets of dialogue seemed to have been filmed a few months after principal photography and immediately after waking up...
Luis Guzman (Out Of Sight), Zach Gilford (NBC's Friday Night Lights), Jaimie Alexander (Thor)
and Rodrigo Santoro ("Xerxes" in 300) play inexperienced Deputies backing Arnold up, with Johnny Knoxville thrown in as the quirky gun enthusiast anxious to help out. I wish there had been more of the likeable Louis Guzman and none of annoying Johnny Knoxville, whose mere presence shaves off about 50 IQ points. Jamie Alexander is serviceable (and quite pretty) while Santoro's troubled Deputy seems thrown in as an obligatory love interest for her- his role here is an afterthought, though there's an undeniable presence that will have to wait for future parts to be fully utilized and appreciated.
Harry Dean Stanton appears in a cameo as an ill-fated farmer while a publicized reunion between Arnold and his Predator Co-Star, Sonny Landham, seems to have been left on the cutting room floor...
The Last Stand is nowhere near Arnold's best in his filmography, but it should please his fan base- there's gun battles aplenty, an elaborate car chase, a climactic, gritty, bare knuckle brawl and a few timely one-liners. I have to admit feeling pretty giddy in seeing him onscreen again in this capacity.
7.0 out of 10
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