John McTiernan is a master action movie craftsman. He helped change the equation with the blockbuster "Diehard". He made sitting around in a submarine exciting in "Hunt For Red October". He also made "Predator", a great action vehicle for rising star Arnold Schwartzenwhatever. "Last Action Hero" was in reality a different genre than another Hollywood action flick, and is both successful at the attempt and at fault at the execution. McTiernan helped reinvigorate the action genre by turning the action hero into a normal guy in "Diehard". Similarly, the man who saves the day in "Hunt for Red October" is just a CIA analyst who reluctantly gets involved. For Arnold, he had done over-the-top "Total Recall" and been nearly invincible in "Terminator 2". For this director/star pair, it seemed like the next step in 'taking it to the next level'. Both probably realised that any action film that tried to top the last big action film would become a self-parody. So they deliberately poked fun at the ridiculousness of the genre. However, that made the film no longer a big Hollywood action movie, it made it an experimental film, almost like a Godard film.
Playing with the characters, the story conventions, the glitzy production sets, the always great looking actors, etc., the scriptwriters managed to pigeon-hole every cliché into this screenplay, and for the most part it looks like the filmmakers had a ball doing it. The folly came with the primary character being a 13 year old (or so) kid. He was played a little too cliché as well, not realistic enough for supposedly being from the "real world". Then there was the whole gimmick of transporting to the movie world via a "magic ticket". That really had little inspiration and should have been more indistinct (a worm hole, the kid is really dreaming, etc).
What works, ironically, is that however over-the-top the crimes the bad guy commits in the movie world, he seemingly can get away with much more in the real world (at least in the tougher neighbourhoods in New York). The other statement (which reshoots probably backtracked on) is that people actually get hurt in the real world when they go through a plate glass window, or get shot by a bullet. It is easy to see why the movie was not well received. The main objective of a summer movie-going audience is to forget about the troubles of the real world, and basically take a roller coaster ride for 2 hours. The moment the blood or pain we see on the screen is supposed be real, it is no longer fun.
For the first 2/3 of LAH, we are given that roller coaster ride that would later be the norm for director Michael Bay. Flying cars, explosions every few minutes, and bad bad bad dialogue. I found myself smiling along during the wink and nods at the movie clichés, but only to get annoyed when the kid started griping about it constantly. The old theatre guy also felt a bit uninspired. I think McTiernan should feel lucky he was able to get away with making this film, because the world is a better place for it.
Playing with the characters, the story conventions, the glitzy production sets, the always great looking actors, etc., the scriptwriters managed to pigeon-hole every cliché into this screenplay, and for the most part it looks like the filmmakers had a ball doing it. The folly came with the primary character being a 13 year old (or so) kid. He was played a little too cliché as well, not realistic enough for supposedly being from the "real world". Then there was the whole gimmick of transporting to the movie world via a "magic ticket". That really had little inspiration and should have been more indistinct (a worm hole, the kid is really dreaming, etc).
What works, ironically, is that however over-the-top the crimes the bad guy commits in the movie world, he seemingly can get away with much more in the real world (at least in the tougher neighbourhoods in New York). The other statement (which reshoots probably backtracked on) is that people actually get hurt in the real world when they go through a plate glass window, or get shot by a bullet. It is easy to see why the movie was not well received. The main objective of a summer movie-going audience is to forget about the troubles of the real world, and basically take a roller coaster ride for 2 hours. The moment the blood or pain we see on the screen is supposed be real, it is no longer fun.
For the first 2/3 of LAH, we are given that roller coaster ride that would later be the norm for director Michael Bay. Flying cars, explosions every few minutes, and bad bad bad dialogue. I found myself smiling along during the wink and nods at the movie clichés, but only to get annoyed when the kid started griping about it constantly. The old theatre guy also felt a bit uninspired. I think McTiernan should feel lucky he was able to get away with making this film, because the world is a better place for it.