Director: Kim-Jee Woon
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Forest Whitaker, Johnny Knoxville, Eduardo Noriega, Peter Stormare, Zach Gilford, Luis Guzman, Jaimie Alexander
Certificate: 15
Synopsis: 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
When Arnold Schwarzenegger left his post as the Governor of California, the world waited with bated breath for his return to the silver screen. Appearing in the largely forgettable ensemble piece THE EXPENDABLES 2 he wasn’t Arnold Schwarzenegger we have known and loved since the 80s. That Schwarzenegger would be front and centre in a balls-to-the-wall action film, so to some extent THE LAST STAND could be regarded as his true return – but is he just a shell of his own self? Or is he as badass as ever? Happily, for the most part, he is the latter.
As Sheriff Ray Owens, who is having to defend his town from a drug cartel, Arnold eases back into Hollywood with a role he has played a billion times before with the obligatory non-existant plotting consisting of a drug kingpin breaking out of jail, stealing a super fast car and attempting to cross the border. Owens and his rag-tag group of deputies have to prevent this, and that’s it. No big plot twists, no character development, no surprises, and it all would have made for an absolutely horrible film if it was not so damn fun.
Arnold is clearly glad to be back, throwing a huge amount of energy into his stunts, and while the supporting cast are all alright, there is little doubt as to who the star of the show is. The set-pieces are pretty brilliant, especially Cortez’ escape from custody, and everything is directed with gusto from Korean director Kim-Jee Woon (in his American debut). Better yet, and something we have been missing from present day’s sanitized action films, there is plenty of blood as bullets rip bad guys apart like nobodies business.
Overall, while there is little to the story, this is pure, uncensored fun from everyone’s favourite Austrian, and it is very refreshing to see a reference to the fact that he’s actually not American. Excellent fun.
THE LAST STAND is available on DVD & Blu-Ray from May 27th. It is distributed in the UK by Lionsgate.
