Review - The Last Stand (2013)

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Johnny Knoxville and Forest Whitaker.
Directed by Kim Jee-Woon.

I thought Arnold was pretty much done with acting but he still has a little bit left in him for action fans. After reprising his role in The Expendables 2 last year, Arnold is back at it again in this action thriller about a small group of towns people who stood against an escaped drug lord and his posse.

Ray Owens (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is the sheriff of a small border town called Sommerton Junction - where crime is pretty much non-existent. In the meantime, Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), a convicted drug lord escapes a police prisoner convoy. After discovering that one of the locals have been murdered, Sheriff Owens and his crew stumble upon Cortez's henchmen who are planting an assault bridge to have Cortez escape into Mexico. After one of their colleagues is killed in the crossfire and with little help from the FBI, Owens and his crew vow to make a last stand against the drug lord.

I believe the director and writers played it safe with The Last Stand. As in, the story is simple and pretty predictable, but at no point was I bored. I guess they made this action movie to just showcase one of our beloved action stars Arnold, which I didn't mind. Although predictable, they did make up for it with some entertaining action sequences - from thrilling car chases to blazing gun fights. The fast car scenes were good and even somewhat reminded of the movie Vanishing Point.

I was kinda worried how they were going to connect the Drug Lord's escape and the small town happenings, but I do believe they handled it well with the town's placement at the US/Mexican border. The script is weak and dialogue does seem to come across flat at times but in the midst of it all, there were some light humor here and there. There is a small twist in the story but the writing doesn't allow it to be great. Luckily Arnold Schwarzenegger is still a bad ass and he definitely made the action sequences and the last stand off of this film worthwhile.

Story and script-wise, The Last Stand isn't great but I didn't feel bored. I had a few chuckles and it was 99 minutes I didn't regret.

Rating: 6.5/10



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