Sometimes you have to trust your instincts,and in the case of The Last Stand,that's what i should have done when i saw this at the cinema. Considering that this was supposed to be the long awaited return of Schwarzenegger to the big screen (not counting Expendables 1 & 2),i couldn't help but have a distinctly underwhelming feeling about it. The poster was so-so,the trailer even more so (not helped by the presence of Johnny Knoxville) and yet there was a certain curiousity value about it....an action god that we worshipped in the 80's,and to some extent in the 90's. But like i said,i should have trusted my instincts....
I must stress that The Last Stand is not an awful film - not by a long shot. It entertains,and that's all a film has to really do,but it's definitely a lacklustre effort which comes as a surprise when it's been directed by Kim Ji-woon who directed The Good,The Bad And The Weird and I Saw The Devil,both films which were exhilarating in their own individual way. However,those films were not your typical fare...they were both unconventional films with which risks could be taken,and perhaps Ji-Woon was hampered in what he could do with The Last Stand which is about as conventional as you can get.
But i'm skirting around the real problem with the film - Arnold Schwarzenegger. As much as it pains me to say this as a fan of his earlier films,it's difficult to take him as an action hero in this film. For the first half of the film,he doesn't do much at all and when the action does kick in,he's a static figure and the formidable screen presence he once had is barely evident it - and the one liners are as creaky as he is.
The Last Stand is not quite The Last Straw for me,but Arnold,you gotta do better. 6/10
