 Tagline: Not in his town. Not on his watch. After leaving his LAPD narcotics post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with remorse and regret, Sheriff Ray Owens (Schwarzenegger) moved out of Los Angeles and settled into a life fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction. But that peaceful existence is shattered when Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the western hemisphere, makes a deadly yet spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy. With the help of a fierce band of lawless mercenaries led by the icy Burrell (Peter Stormare), Cortez begins racing towards the US-Mexico border at 250 mph in a specially-outfitted Corvette ZR1 with a hostage in tow. Cortez' path: straight through Summerton Junction, where the whole of the U.S. law enforcement, including Agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker) will have their final opportunity to intercept him before the violent fugitive slips across the border forever. At first reluctant to become involved, and then counted out because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, Owens ultimately rallies his team and takes the matter into his own hands, setting the stage for a classic showdown. Storyline: Sheriff Owens is a man who has resigned himself to a life of fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction after leaving his LAPD post following a bungled operation that left him wracked with failure and defeat after his partner was crippled. After a spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy, the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the hemisphere is hurtling toward the border at 200 mph in a specially outfitted car with a hostage and a fierce army of gang members. He is headed, it turns out, straight for Summerton Junction, where the whole of U.S. law enforcement will have their last opportunity to make a stand and intercept him before he slips across the border forever. At first reluctant to become involved, and then counted out because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, Owens ultimately accepts responsibility for the face off. Written by Production Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman on May 8, 2013 -- What's a former Governator to do when his political career has come to a screeching halt and his former illustrious film career is a mere shadow of its formerly extremely beefy self, both due to the inexorable effects of aging as well as to well publicized personal foibles? Arnold Schwarzenegger has had some major image rehabilitation to undertake after the disastrous announcement of his affair with a longtime housekeeper which had resulted in an illegitimate child, and perhaps wisely Ah-nuld chose to stay at least partially out of the limelight, choosing supporting roles in films like The Expendables and its sequel while also hawking his not particularly well received autobiography. Schwarzenegger found himself in a (self created) unfortunate position when the revelations about his personal life made front page news around the world, and that resulted in the postponement and/or outright cancellation of several film projects he had already lined up to fill up his empty days since his term as Governor of California was coming to an end. But rather surprisingly, The Last Stand marks the first actual starring role for Schwarzenegger in a decade, more or less. Not since 2003's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines has Schwarzenegger essayed this much screen time and it becomes almost instantly obvious as The Last Stand gets underway that he was hedging his bets on this return, making his big screen starring reappearance in an outing that is resolutely predictable and unchallenging, and which may have been intentionally crafted to appeal to the lowest common denominator, but which ends up being a lot more entertaining than it probably has any right to be. There is no denying that there is a cut and paste aspect to a lot of The Last Stand, but what may surprise some at least is the disparate source material that has been pirated for this particular casserole. The film takes place in a sleepy little Arizona town called Sommerton, which for all intents and purposes could be any village out of the storied Wild West. Schwarzenegger portrays Los Angeles transplant Ray Owens who is the Sheriff of this fairly crime free burg. Ray (of course) has a past that has resulted in him leaving the big city for the "charms" of this one street enclave, but his stress free existence is about to be put to a major test as The Last Stand gets underway. Films as disparate as High Noon and Hostage have had certain elements "borrowed" for this new film, but the good news is that despite an undeniable déjŕ vu quality to much of the proceedings, the film moves along at an exceedingly brisk pace and delivers several excellently staged set pieces, as hyperbolic as some of them are. The film actually starts with a kind of amusing prelude where we see a California State Highway Patrolman downing a donut (really?) by the side of the road when something immensely fast zooms by him. When he sees his radar gun is registering 197 mph, he phones in a report that someone is flying a jet plane without lights on. That of course turns out to be wrong, in spades. We segue to Sommerton, where Sheriff Owens is enjoying his day off, something that starts to go awry when he becomes suspicious of two guys in the local diner who are ostensibly long distance truck drivers. We soon meet Ray's misfit bunch of deputies, all of whom would basically make Barney Fife look like a genius. But Ray soon has other, bigger problems on his hands. The film ping pongs to the supposed transfer of a notorious drug cartel crime boss named Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), a transfer which is being overseen by FBI agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker). Needless to say, things don't go according to plan, which is the first moment that The Last Stand tips off what will become its kind of regular over the top stock in trade. How does Cortez escape, when he's manacled in the back of an armored truck and surrounded by a convoy of heavily armed agents? Why, with a giant magnet, of course, which yanks the truck out of the convoy and deposits it on the top of a Las Vegas skyscraper. Cortez has all his ducks in a row, including having hired scores of people to run through the streets in orange jumpsuits, so that the FBI doesn't know who is Cortez and who isn't (since they haven't yet figured out he isn't even on the ground anymore). Some audience members may be prone to rolling their eyes and giving up at this moment of undeniable absurdity, but the fact is the sequence is very well staged if absolutely unbelievable. It turns out the "jet" the state trooper misidentified earlier in the film was actually a souped up Corvette which is delivered to Cortez as a getaway car. That sets up the middle section of the film where Bannister watches as Cortez, who has taken a beautiful FBI agent hostage, manages to evade one trap after another as he races his car toward the Mexico border. Can you guess what little Arizona town Cortez heads for to make his escape into his native country? That then sets up the over the top finale of the film, when a bunch of Cortez's henchmen, including the two "truckers" Owens spotted early in the film (and who went on to murder a local townsman), start to wreak havoc around Sommerton even as Cortez approaches. Owens and his ragtag assortment of real deputies and civilians whom Owens has deputized on the spot, spring into action to take out the bad guys. There is some great action in this section of the film, with shootouts that resemble scenes from westerns amped up to 21st century volume levels. The most over the top sequence of course is saved for last, when Cortez finally shows up and is chased by Owens in the Mayor's red Camaro through a cornfield in a scene that plays like some Chevy-ized version of an old Dukes of Hazzard episode. It's wonderfully staged and incredibly effective, capped by a bare knuckles fight that proves Ah-nuld may be aging (something that's stated outright in the film) but can still pack a heck of a punch. The film has a large and colorful supporting cast, including Johnny Knoxville as a weapons expert; Jaimie Alexander, Zach Gilford and Luis Guzmán as deputies; Peter Stormare as Cortez's chief goon who terrorizes Sommerton; Rodrigo Santoro as a returned vet who just happens to be good with a gun; and Génesis Rodriguez as the agent whom Cortez holds hostage. But aside from the Governator himself, the real star of this film may well be Kim ji-Woon, a South Korean director with a varied oeuvre (including part of the omnibus Doomsday Book), who makes his American debut with this feature. He's obviously modeling this film after some of the similarly furiously paced John Woo action flicks, and the good news is, he's a rather skilled mimic. There's absolutely nothing new under the blazing Arizona sun in The Last Stand, but I was actually a little shocked at how breezily entertaining this film is. It's often quite gruesomely violent, but it has the requisite Schwarzenegger-esque sense of humor (replete with lame one liners) and the action is impeccably well staged. You'll see virtually every plot point coming from a mile (or more) off, but chances are you won't really care all that much because there's enough mayhem to keep you properly distracted. This Blu-ray offers excellent video, reference quality audio and some decent supplements. Recommended. Cast Notes: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Ray Owens), Forest Whitaker (Agent John Bannister), Titos Menchaca (Mayor), Peter Stormare (Burrell), Richard Dillard (Irv), Eduardo Noriega (Gabriel Cortez), Luis Guzmán (Mike Figuerola), Sonny Landham (Henry), Jaimie Alexander (Sarah Torrance), Mathew Greer (Sam), Johnny Knoxville (Lewis Dinkum), Chris Browning (Pony Tail), Zach Gilford (Jerry Bailey), Christiana Leucas (Christie), Harry Dean Stanton (Mr. Parsons). IMDb Rating (05/16/13): 6.5/10 from 31,336 users IMDb Rating (03/17/13): 7.0/10 from 12,822 users
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