What They Say:
After leaving his LAPD narcotics post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with remorse and regret, Sheriff Ray Owens (Schwarzenegger) moved out of Los Angeles and settled into a life fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction. But that peaceful existence is shattered when Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the western hemisphere, makes a deadly yet spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy. With the help of a fierce band of lawless mercenaries led by the icy Burrell (Peter Stormare), Cortez begins racing towards the US-Mexico border at 250 mph in a specially-outfitted Corvette ZR1 with a hostage in tow. Cortez’ path: straight through Summerton Junction, where the whole of the U.S. law enforcement, including Agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker) will have their final opportunity to intercept him before the violent fugitive slips across the border forever.
The Review:
While I don’t always get to see the works foreign directors do before they start making Hollywood films, I’m always curious to see how they’ll blend and work when it comes to those kinds of films when they happen. And I’m also definitely a child of the 80’s, having grown up with Arnold Schwarzenneger being a household name pre-politics and pre-Kennedy marriage. I may not exactly list him as one of my favorite actors, but he’s someone that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed over the years for the body of work that he has done and the influence in the industry ever since when it comes to action movies. Having not seen him in anything other than a cameo or two here and there, I was looking forward to seeing how his first full feature since departing the Governorship would turn out. With it being a January release movie, expectations are obviously low but the general idea was that I’d get something that was fun and simple. And The Last Stand essentially delivers on that for the most part.
The premise of the film is simple enough in that a man named Gabriel Cortez as played by Eduardo Noriega, the current big bad of the drug kingpin world, is being transferred quietly from one facility to another starting in Las Vegas where he’s being held. There’s a crack team of FBI agents working the cast, lead by John Bannister as played by Forrest Whitaker. It’s all hush hush of course, but things don’t go that way when you have someone like Cortez who can throw money around and orchestrate an elaborate escape. And while it may not be Mission: Impossible elaborate, it definitely comes across as a little more than it needs to be. But part of that is simply that Cortez, being a third generation kingpin likes to do things big, flashy and with everyone knowing that he got away with it. And hands on, which is why when he does escape, he takes one agent prisoner and heads off towards to the Mexican border in a souped up specialty Corvette.
That sets the FBI on a sizable manhunt across two states and we get a good deal of action in the first half focusing on this as the car zooms along, makes some amusing escapes and we see how many people he’s paid off to help him escape alone the way, making it clear his position and influence. At the same time, we get to see what’s going on in the little town of Sommerton, a tiny border town in Arizona where we’re introduced to Sherriff Ray Owens, as played by Arnold Schwarzenneger. It’s a pretty laid back place, most of the people in the town have just left for a big football game for the weekend and Ray’s looking forward to some downtime, letting the deputies of Jerry Bailey (Zach Gilford) and Sarah Torrance (Jaimie Alexander) handle things alongside the more experienced Deputy Mike Figerola (Luis Guzman). The sleepy town feeling is handled decently and it’s pretty much ever cliche you can throw at it, right down to the oddball Lewis Dinkum (Johnny Knoxville) who runs a weapons museum in town that’s open a few hours of the month that even the Sherriff isn’t aware is actually there since it’s just a “cover” for him to be the survivalist that he is.
While there’s the obvious angle of how Sommerton would come into play as Cortez would go through there to get to Mexico, there’s the problem in that there’s a sizable ravine there and no legal crossing. No real physical crossing either. The town takes shape in the story as Cortez’s guys are down there with a small squad and a mildly creative way of coming up with a way to get through, since the FBI would never think of it and are focusing their men elsewhere. Naturally, all eyes turn to Sommerton as the Sherriff figures out what’s going on when one of the locals is mysteriously murdered and the deputies stumble onto the plan, making for an awkward first shootout in the town and leading to a gathering of minds to push back against what’s coming. Which leads to lots of weapon stocking up, placing of cars and preparing for an onslaught that hits from two sides. It’s all by the books but it does have a decent flow about it once it gets rolling.
With the by the books feel of it all, it really does come down to two things. The style of it and whether “old” Arnold works for you or not. There’s certainly been plenty of older action stars coming back, courtesy of The Expendables and the ongoing Die Hard films and RED, so Arnold’s return post-Governorship isn’t a surprise. And he picked a decent way to do it here, setting expectations low and not promising a huge film right off the bat as he gets his legs again. Save that for the next Terminator and King Conan movie, which should work well. Here, he plays it right with a Sherriff who had the big life before and went through all the bloodshed and pain and is not just weary and looking for that sleepy town to wind down in, to do right by them but not be under the gun as much. There are a few gags made towards his age and physical side, but they’re not done with a lot of intensity and they’re things that you’d feel would fit, even if it is just “Hollywood Old” that’s going on here as a lot of what he does would do in some younger men as well.
When it comes to the visual side, the feature is a bit weaker there. Ji-woon does well in coming up with the right set pieces, showcasing the action with a solid look to it without resorting constant to quick cuts or other awkward bits. He’s got things more settled here than one might expected, allowing for some good long shots and letting the action unfold without moving to each individual character and take down that happens. The racing side is where it’s stronger overall as it has a good bit of energy to it and I rather liked the elaborate escape early on with the motions that were made, even if it was just too much in terms of storytelling. The execution made it work. Where it falters for me is that too much of the outdoors action is green screened. And badly at times. A lot of it does take place outdoors, but the green scened pieces stand out far too much with artificial sun, especially on the bridge towards the end. That took me out of the film more than anything and left me cringing over how badly it was done. It’s not detrimental and a lot of people probably won’t notice it, but it added a level of fakeness to it that wasn’t there otherwise.
In Summary:
Bringing Arnold back in this way definitely works since it’s not a high pressure film with a budget in the high thirty million range. The talent here is decent, though Johnny Knoxville is getting way too much billing for the small role he has overall, but he’ll draw in some audiences. I was pleased to see Jaimie Alexander in here and she’s competent but largely a simple role. There’s something about shooting up Arizona small towns that she just keeps gravitating towards. The feature has some mild turns here and there, but they’re expected and obvious early on if you’ve seen any number of movies of this nature. That doesn’t make it bad, just predictable and easy to spot, which in turn keeps you focused on other areas. And the film does suffer a bit because of that. It’s got some decent action to it, some solid sequences to enjoy and a good number of laughs. It’s certainly worth a rental down the road but it’s not one I’d recommend hitting the theater for right out of the gate unless you’re very enthusiastic about some of the participants in it.
Grade: C
