Review of The Last Stand (2013) by Stevenf — 29 May 2013

Someone bad is speeding towards your town in a souped up sports car that only a higher power could slow down, so what do you do? Put Arnold Schwarzenegger in said town of course, and let him run riot simply because he hasn't been able to do so on his own for almost ten years.

He stars as Sheriff Ray Owens, maintaining the law in a quiet town in Nevada, but the lack of crime leaves himself and his inexperienced crew with very little maintenance to keep. So on his day off, he suspects a few shady truckers in a diner but lets them on their way, but when the local milkman is found dead, Ray suspects everything is intertwined, especially when he gets a call from John Bannister (Forest Whitaker) of the FBI to inform him of an escaped death row convict possibly heading for Ray's small town. This escape itself is something right out of the A-Team, overblown and ridiculous but easily enjoyable.

What Ray doesn't hold back on is getting back into old tricks to protect his friends after everything starts falling into place.

There is plenty of set-pieces and other B movie antics to enjoy, but the film does take quite a while to get into the swing of things, trying too hard at certain points to make a story or plot development that isn't there or doesn't need to be explored, after all, some films just don't need that much thought or willpower to watch, but at various points throughout the film, tension is built only to unfold with little flare, at many times it just needed more of its main guy, and even more Johnny Knoxville would have sufficed.

There is also the wasted opportunity of Whitaker, he has very little to do and an actor of his undeniable talent deserves better. But a more than excellent and explosive finale with some good old-fashioned fist fighting certainly finishes off a decent flick and return for Schwarzenegger, with plenty of action blended in with comedy to satisfy plenty, he's not at his best by a long shot, but he certainly leaves a presence that is hard to ignore.

Theres nothing spectacular about Arnie's long awaited return to the screen, the acting all round is wodden and the story is filled with questionable motives, but for that reason its easy to get lost in this fun, silly and action-packed firefight that rarely puts down its weapons.