The Last Stand
Our search for the Worst Film of 2013 kicked off yesterday with the rather poor G.I. Joe: Retaliation… our search continues with another rather rubbish ‘action’ film.
That film comes in the form of The Last Stand as we saw Arnold Schwarzenegger return to the big screen in his first major leading role.
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.
The major problem with this movie is that it is incredibly undistinguished, which is a shame as there are some good ideas underneath it all.
Director Kim Jee-woon is so desperate to get the action sequences that he has forgotten to build the story and develop the characters; leaving you not really caring whether these characters live or are blown to smithereens.
It is just packed with big guns, shootouts, silly car chases and rubbish one-liners - all of which are hallmarks of a Schwarzenegger movie - but this formula is getting a little tired; not to mention you will have seen it done much better in many other movies.
A great cast has been brought together as Peter Strormare, Forest Whitaker, Jaimie Alexander and Rodrigo Santoro, but they are all characters that are forgotten about in favour of concentrating on Schwarzenegger.
There is no doubt that Schwarzenegger still has a real presence when he is on screen, but he is doing nothing but going through the motions throughout this film. You get the feeling that he is just doing what is necessary to get his paycheck - which is a real shame.
Schwarzenegger is one of the most iconic action actors of all time, and I expected more from his leading role return than this snooze-fest. I don’t doubt that The Last Stand is a movie that will have kept Schwarzenegger fans happy, but for everyone else this more is more than a little dull.
2013 really has been a poor year for action movies and big named action stars; we have already looking at G.I. Joe and The Last Stand, and there will be more films in this genre to follow.