Review of Last Action Hero (1993) by Blake B — 14 Jul 2009

I've NEVER been able to understand the hate this movie gets from critics and movie-goers. I really don't see what's so hard to understand about its aim and focus. This is NOT a straight up action movie. It is NOT a straight comedy. All it is is a send-up of Hollywood action movies that Arnold helped gain notoriety and a larger fan base. It's not taking itself seriously, and you shouldn't either. If that's not obvious to most people, I really can't see what exactly was lost in translation from the screen to their minds.

What I WILL admit is that the boy actor is pretty damn annoying, and the final showdown with the main antagonists leaves a lot to be desired. But the satire and self-parody throughout the movie is great. All of the shots taken at common action movie cliches are spot-on. Yes, sometimes the boy explains too much exactly what the cliche is, but the actual jokes before they have to be explained work very well.

The bookending sections of Last Action Hero can stretch a little too long, but the ride in the middle is worth it. If I have to try to find justification in the hate that people feel towards this movie, it might be the point at which the movie, which up to a very distinct point is fully self-aware, becomes self-aware of its self-awareness (this is at the point when the main antagonist finds the golden ticket) and it becomes a little heavy-handed. But it's still interesting to see how on-screen personas would see themselves and act in the real world. McTiernan did indeed not fully flesh this aspect out, but the concept was ripe for greatness anyway, despite a few good moments that can indeed be found.

I'm probably never going to get people to change their minds about this movie, so it wouldn't be very worthwhile for me to keep going on about the reasons that I love the movie and don't loathe it like so many others. I can recognize its shortcomings but still enjoy it for the most part. This is probably the movie I feel most bitter about people not liking, but there's not much I can do about it, so I'm just going to leave it at that.