I didn't expect a whole lot from "The Last Stand", except that it would provide a good 100 minutes of undemanding but hard-boiled and wickedly violent action. And it does just that! Well, maybe I secretly did have higher expectations, since the film represented the comeback of action-icon Arnold Schwarzenegger to the big screen (after playing for Californian governor for 10 years), and the Hollywood debut of the acclaimed South Korean director Jee-Woon Kim ("A Tale of Two Sisters", "I Saw the Devil"). It's already admirable that Kim chose to direct an original action movie scenario, rather than opting for the "safe" solution and simply remake one of his own Korean horror successes. "The Last Stand" is great popcorn fun and old-fashioned buddy action. In fact, it's the ideal throwback to action movie hits typically for the late 80s and 90s, with lots of humor, ultra-mean villains & comic relief sidekicks, spectacular stunt work and over-the-top violent shootouts. When the most feared Mexican drug cartel leader escapes from the FBI during a meticulously planned prison transport in Las Vegas, his follow-up plan exists of speeding further south with a stolen Corvette and crossing the Mexican border via an improvised bridge in the sleepy little Arizonan town of Sommerton. There's one minor obstacle, though. Arnie Schwarzenegger is Sheriff Ray Owens of Sommerton, and he certainly doesn't plan to let Cortez pass through his town without a fight. "The Last Stand" works well because the bad guys (Eduardo Noriega, Peter Stormare) are effectively loathsome, and because our heroic Sheriff is so understaffed that he must rely on an inexperienced but trigger-happy gun freak (Johnny Knoxville) for help. The action footage is very impressive, the blood floats excessively and Schwarzenegger is still a forceful rock of pure testosterone!
Review of The Last Stand
