The Last Stand
Arnold’s back. The former body building champion turned AAA Hollywood actor turned businessman turned Governor of California has made his major return to the silver screen. The Last Stand, directed by Kim Ji-woon, serves as Arnold’s first starring role since 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Its an interesting choice as the film doesn’t have a hundred million dollar budget but it seems like a good way for Arnold to ease back into things. To get a good idea of Arnold’s current thoughts check out this recent interview.
In The Last Stand Arnold plays the sheriff of the small border town Sommerton Junction in Arizona. After having spent time working in more violent cities the slower pace is just what he’s looking for. Meanwhile, a notorious drug kingpin in police custody in Nevada is scheduled to be transported to a different holding facility. During transport things turn sour and the drug kingpin ends up escaping in a modified corvette headed for the border. Sommerton Junction becomes the last opportunity to stop him (hence the title).
The film has some flaws. Eduardo Noriega, who plays the drug kingpin, is pretty lousy. The first 15 minutes of the film were extremely rushed. Forest Whitaker’s character seems to have been written with brevity as the main focus and he could have used some depth beyond just the occasional yelling because things aren’t going well. The film also has some identity struggles. Certain parts are designed to be very drama-filled and emotionally charged while other parts are filled with ‘stupid’ humor. I don’t mean that in a bad way. If anything, things should have leaned more in that direction. I was surprised to find that Johnny Knoxville and Luis Guzman fit in pretty well and the film overall would have been better if everyone kept more to the action/comedy approach.
Despite these small misgivings the film was still highly entertaining. You get 107 minutes of action-packed excitement filled with shootouts, car chases, and even some good old-fashioned hand to hand slugging. There is a lot of classic Arnold in the film and he definitely proves that he is still on his A-game. In the larger scheme of Arnold’s career I don’t think The Last Stand will merit any special mentions, but that doesn’t stop it from being highly enjoyable.
