Kim Je-Woon and the 2013 film The Last Stand is the western genre revisited. His foray into the world of American film did not do well in terms of critical acclaim. It was, for the most part, panned.
Despite the poor reviews that this film has garnered, I could not wait to see it. I wanted to see it in the cinema. Due to low viewing figures it finished its cinematic run rather early. I had to wait for the DVD.
It Feels Like
The Last Stand feels like a reworking of two “classic” westerns; High Noon and Rio Bravo. It borrows from High Noon and Rio Bravo. It takes the plot of the bad guys (or guy) who are coming into town. The good guys need to stop him. It works well for the continuation of the story. The Rio Bravo bit has the sheriff getting help from the town folks.
I may be wrong about my allegations of film similarities. It did feel like those touches were in there, albeit much more modern than the settings of the previous films. There were no horses, jangling spurs or Duke Wayne or even Gary Cooper. Ahnold is neither of these two cinematic western heroes. He is not Cooper or Duke. He doesn’t even wear a stetson, but he does a pretty good job as the sheriff.
Kim Jee-Woon
Kim Jee-Woon does a brilliant job on his first US feature; The Last Stand. He shows the same brilliance that he’s shown in his South Korean films. He also shows us that American films are not beyond his reach. This man is talented and gifted no matter where he directs.
I’ve guessed that part of the “mixed” reviews this film got was more about Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was the star after all. Maybe Johnny Knoxville had a part to play in the negative viewpoints as well. I think that Arnold stepping out of politics and in getting in front of the camera left him open. No matter what film he chose to “re-emerge,” it would have netted him poor reviews.
Jee-Woon has shown that he can direct films written by folks other than himself. He’s done well with this modern day western, in my own humble opinion. Although he has not returned to the “big playground” to make another US film.
The Last Stand has a good cast. There is enough talent to take the sting in the tail out those mixed reviews. I will hold my hand up and admit that I still like the ex “Governator’s” films. However, Arnold is less likable as a person since I read his autobiography. I talked about this in an earlier book review. He is still likable enough on the big (or in this case, smaller) screen.
Cast is the key
But back to the cast.
How can you not like Peter Stormare as the big bad guy’s number one “bad-guy” helper. Jaimie Alexander is one of the deputies. Forest Whitaker is the head FBI guy. Last but not least is Harry Dean Stanton as the grumpy, and almost homicidal, farmer in a brilliant cameo. A cameo that is far too short.
Luis Guzmán does a brilliant job as the deputy. His Mike Figuerola is a stand alone character. He takes up a Thompson machine gun, with the round drum, and walks it down to Stormare’s larger than life villain. Eduardo Noriega is the ultimate big bad who is chased by the FBI and then by Arnold.
The Story
The Last Stand despite the holes that do occasionally make an appearance, is pretty straightforward. An ex cop from the big bad city of Los Angeles is set up as the sheriff of a small one horse town. It sets right on the Mexican border. A drug cartel super villain escapes from FBI custody and heads straight for that border. The villain blows any opposition away by using a lot of muscle hired by a lot of drug money.
The villain is making a bee-line for the small town and its tiny police force.
I’m not going to make a lot of observations about the holes, existent or not. I will also not address , whether the whole thing is unrealistic or not. If you want realism in your cops and robbers stories watch the nightly news, not a movie. If you can’t take off your “disbelief hat” at the door, why the hell do you watch movies anyway?
The biggest obstacle you have to get over is this. Why would the citizens of a small, out in the middle of nowhere, town hire this sheriff. A man whose command of the English language keeps him from using the correct syntax when he speaks. Once you get past that one, the rest is easy.
As a debut film for the genius that is Kim Jee-Woon it’s good. He proves here that he can deliver an entertaining American Hollywood film. One that has humour, pathos, a smidgen of death, shoot-outs, and car chases. The body count is high, but not that high. The fact that this is Schwarzenegger’s come-back vehicle kept it from doing better in the cinema. In my humble opinion.
The Verdict
The Last Stand is a cracking film. I enjoyed the heck out of it. I have watched it about three times since it came in the post today. My mood is quite up in the area of films. At the moment I have two western films in my collection of just such recent vintage. In case you’ve forgotten the other western is Django Unchained – see the previous post. It gives me hope that the genre just might be making a comeback.
I hope it’s better received than Arnold’s comeback.
5 out of 5 stars, cause it’s a Kim Jee-Woon film, man!
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