 |
| Release: 2013, Rating: R, Runtime: 107 min. |
Welcome back Arnold! Besides briefly appearing in The Expendables 2, your first true movie after a long hiatus, is a winner in my book. The Last Stand is a fantastic throwback film to the early 90’s actioners and yes that’s a good thing…
Short nitty-gritty plot description from IMDb is as follows: The leader of a drug cartel busts out of a courthouse and speeds to the Mexican border, where the only thing in his path is a sheriff and his inexperienced staff.
During a high risk transfer, drug cartel boss, Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), escapes and heads off in a souped up car towards the Mexican border. Unfortunately for him, his path takes him through the small town of Summerton Junction, where Sheriff Ray Owens (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a hard ass and will stop at nothing to keep his town safe.
That’s pretty much the plot, but it’s simple story is one of the things that make this movie a blast to watch. Add on top of that, some great humor, tons of over the top action, fast car chases, bloody violence and a mix of western cowboy themes, The Last Stand is full to the brim of awesomeness.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s welcome back film is a return to form in my humble opinion. Yes, he is getting up there in age, but he plays the character with good amount of self referential humor. He still kicks a ton of ass and knows how to deliver some nice comedic parts. This is purely a Schwarzenegger vehicle, so everyone else kinda takes a backseat to him. Still, that doesn’t mean we don’t get some over the top, yet perfectly fine performances from the likes of Forest Whitaker, as the FBI agent chasing down Cortez, the hot as all get out Jaimie Alexander, as local police officer Sara, Peter Stormare, who I believe is the real bad guy of the film and does a great job being so slimy. We also have Johnny Knoxville, in a somewhat surprisingly small, yet funny role.
I really loved this movie and hardly have any complaints. There might be a few times where it will drag a little and some of the acting can be a little cringe worthy, especially from our cartel boss/race car driver, Cortez, but you know what, that all doesn’t matter come the end, as the movie kicks so much ass. This is a fun movie and one that can easily be placed along side all those other cheesy, yet awesome 90’s action films.
Rating:
