Review of The Last Stand (2013) by Dawdlingpoet — 26 Nov 2021

First off, this is quite a (deliberately) funny movie at the start, which doesn't take itself too seriously I reckon, certainly when introducing the viewer to the 'typical sleepy town of Sommerton Junction' and its zany characters, like the local eccentric Lewis Dinkum (played by Jackass star Johnny Knoxville).

Its an easy watch which provides some shock moments and plenty of action scenes. Its quite tense and suspenseful at points as well. I thought Forest Whitaker was especially well cast in his role as an agent desperately trying to track down the drugs baron, reminding me of other action/dramas he's been in, such as Vantage Point (which I believe I've also reviewed).

To me it seemed a bit like a spoof movie, in as much as the plot is quite unoriginal and rather cheesy you could say (especially in terms of the accents used and nationalities represented - I don't mean Arnie either), its not overly memorable I suppose, as you might expect but it has its plus points. Its quite fast paced and frantic at points, with lots of gunfire and some souped up vehicles present, some good use of special effects. If you like high speed car chase scenes or movies with cars in general, I suppose, then this may interest you because there are a fair amount of scenes showing the authorities chasing the fugitive in a fancy (read sleek/stylish and high powered) car, which for some reason made me think of Knight Rider, only the car doesn't talk of course. Its probably more relevant to compare it to more modern films like the Fast and Furious franchise.

It should also be noted that there's a good use of the musical score with stringed instruments heavily present to add to the tension in pivotal scenes, the usual elements found in such movies. However, it also piles on the cheese with what I'd say is rather over the top sentimental pieces played unnecessarily at times.

I found the camerawork to be a bit frustrating at times, in as much as some scenes set in the dark of night (a lot of it is set in low light conditions, happening at night) were rather hard to follow as the camera angles made it hard to see precisely what was happening but then given the bloody violence present, in a sense perhaps thats just as well, it just seemed a bit too confusing and frantic perhaps even at times, moving and cutting from one angle to the next quite quickly.

I liked how the pace and tension slowly built up, from a slow start to the point at which we (as viewers) should know there's going to be real trouble but don't know when its going to hit, as it were. Its nothing new by any stretch of the imagination, if anything I'd question how realistic it is but mainly from a plot point of view, not in terms of the effects used which did seem quite realistic but its a fairly decent action/drama movie, in terms of being tense, suspenseful and entertaining generally.

There's one scene where the female character is talking to 'sherrif Arnie' and he supposedly admits to her a secret which is that he claims he's more afraid than her - it was hard not to laugh at that for one thing! and yup, I did warn you that its rather cheesy! there is some really 'oh brother!' type dialogue. This movie reminded me of the fact that America loves an underdog and I suppose you could claim the town of Summerton is an underdog in itself. Still, all in all, I felt it was an enjoyable watch, with some otherwise funny dialogue and decent enough acting from the cast.

Content wise, as previously mentioned there's bloody violence, with plenty of frantic gunfire and some very strong language present, hence the 15 certificate this movie carries.

Plot wise, the start was a little bit slow but it introduced the main characters well enough I suppose and given the more frantic scenes and the issues with the camerawork, I'd say its probably just as well the plot started unravelling quite slowly at first, or I might have been really quite lost by it. By the way, yes, for some unknown reason 'that' Elvis song seemed to come to mind when I sat thinking about what title to give this review - ie. a little less conversation, a little more action please - its different to the somewhat boring usual titles I use though, so I hope you like it lol.

It features some decent special effects and I liked one or two of the characters. Its tense and suspenseful in parts and is certainly entertaining, although really rather cheesy as well. Its a bit over the top action wise but then thats hardly an surprise given the facy its an Arnie movie, right? I just wish the female character was slightly more gutsy and less scared than she's depicted, even though she does take on a hands on part of the action. Action wise this is pretty good and thats likely the main thing you'd be looking for when renting or buying a movie like this, I reckon, so hence the recommendation, just perhaps don't expect too much originality.