Review of Last Man Standing (1995) by Melvin W — 20 Jan 2012

Joe Monday: You know, for a guy with no principles, sometimes you act kinda peculiar. .

"There are two sides to every war. And John Smith is on both of them.".

Last Man Standing is not a horrible remake of Yojimbo. But I've got two films to compare it to; those being Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars. When you look at it beside them, it obviously isn't going to compare. Really, Last Man Standing isn't that bad, but it suffers from trying to be as cool as Yojimbo and A Fistful of Dollars, when it never could be. Bruce Willis has a cool presence in the movie, but his eyes half shut, whispering routine gets old quicker than normal. .

There's some things I did like about the film though. I liked the dusty look to the movie. I liked the new setting for the same story. This time it's in Jericho, Texas during the prohibition days. The town looks like your standard western setup. I also liked Christopher Walken in a gruff voice, scarred face, bad guy role. The stuff I like just doesn't balance up great with the stuff I don't.

If you've seen Yojimbo or A Fistful of Dollars, you know this story. It's a cool one. A drifter comes into a war torn town and plays both sides against each other. He plans on making as much money as he can by switching sides at different times, when the money is better on the opposing side. Bruce Willis plays John Smith, the drifter. He's a master gunman and must also be a master dodger because hundreds of people shoot at him, yet none hit him. It's one of those invincible character movies, and I guess I'm fine with that. .

This is a story that is so cool that whenever it is remade again, I'll watch it. This one just didn't have everything going for it like the other two, but it's still worth a watch. I probably would have liked it much more if I hadn't seen the other two before it. Knowing how great those two are really does rake away from this. If you haven't seen any of the three, I would suggest watching this one first. You'll get more enjoyment out of this one than I did.