Great Comeback for Arnold. Great Action Movie!!!
I was prepared to be disappointed by this comeback by Arnold Schwarzenegger. After all he is fairly far from the shape he once had. Luckily I was not. This is a quite enjoyable movie. Sure it is falls short compared to his previous really hard hitters but it is still a good movie. The plot is okay although a fairly standard one. Escaped criminal races for the border, hero sheriff (good old Schwarzy) stands in his way. Been there, seen that, done that. It is a plot that works though and the racing maniac and bridge building twist made it not feel too old. It was fun to see Arnold in a leading role gain although he did look a bit rusty. He also felt a bit wimpier than he used to. Sure, he beat, stabbed and shot the bad guys for a good enough chunk of the movie but it was with a bit more hesitation and without the “I’m gonna kick your ass” attitude that he used to have. For being an experienced guy he, that is him in his role as the sheriff, also seemed to bungle it every now and then. The scene where he turns his back to the bad guy and, of course, gets stabbed annoyed me quite a lot for example. It is always nice to see Peter Stormare in a movie. Not just because he is from my native country but I do like him as an actor. He put the necessary spice on the bad guys which was quite needed since, personally, I thought Gabriel Cortex was a somewhat shallow mad drug baron stereotype. Seeing him floor it or change gear became somewhat boring after the 5th or so time. Also that scene where he bumps a Suburban of the hood of the Corvette was just silly. No way would the hood, or the car for that matter, stand for that. I just do not understand why producers/directors continue do these obvious and arrogant we-think-the-audience-is-to-stupid-to-notice things. News-flash: we are not that stupid! Forest Whitaker was not too bad as the FBI guy being screwed over and I did like Luis Guzmán as one of the sheriff’s sidekicks. Otherwise the team was somewhat bland. I guess the historical weapons guy was supposed to be funny but I mostly found him silly. The shootout between the sheriff’s team and the bad guys at the end of the movie was quite fun to watch but, at the same time, fairly silly. There was not much real life logic in how it played out. The bloody bus they used to move the machine gun into place made no sense at all for instance except as a reason to make some driving stunts with a bus. The bottom line though is that, for me, this was a enjoyable movie and not at all the bungled comeback attempt that I was afraid it would turn out to be.
After a very long hiatus from the film industry, Arnie is back! The Last Stand is a cheesy yet epic action movie in 2013. I recommend it as a guilty pleasure.
## Simple and entertaining. Some call it a "guilty pleasure", and yes, it is. At times, characters and acting are like those movies you made with friends at high-school or as freshman (you did, didn't you?). A bit cardboard, but friendly fun, and over-the-top. Well, this has a bit more budget, and Arnie in it (plus a cast of Peter Stormare, Luis Guzman, and a handful of other solid actors). But at heart, it's a simple shoot-em-up action movie; no complexity, no surprising twists. What will happen is obvious from the start, as if this was JACK SLATER VIII; how it will happen is what you get to watch. Don't expect much, just enjoy it.
The successful undercover agent Victor Cooper is assigned for his ninth mission: to find how the loadings of drug is being brought to Miami. He suspects that the drug is coming through the air and joins a team of sky diving, under the leadership of Red Line, a fanatic and considered the athlete number one in this sport in the world. Due to his profile of winner, Vic gets involved with the group and he "disconnects" from his position of infiltrated agent, "connecting" with the team.
Two brothers turn against each other when confronted with the possibility of getting millions of dollars found in a stolen armored car.
A sheriff begins an investigation into the death of a local transsexual after hearing that high ranking politicians may have been involved. Although he is homophobic, his investigation causes him to be rejected by others, forcing him to seek help from the people he once despised.
Banks is a hit man, the best, usually working for Latin American drug cartels. He picks up solitary women, uses them briefly for a job, then kills them. He's in the Southwest, headed toward Mexico, when he picks up Bennie, a woman leaving an abusive marriage, going to Paradise, Arizona. The film follows three tracks: Banks's slow recruitment of Bennie, the set-up for the hit at a swank resort in Mexico, and the FBI's close pursuit of Banks, whom they want alive in hopes he'll rat out his bosses. Bennie may not be who she seems, and there may be a chink in Banks's tough-guy armor. Guns, money, and a chance at Paradise.
Mark Kaminsky is kicked out of the FBI for his rough treatment of a suspect. He winds up as the sheriff of a small town in North Carolina. FBI Chief Harry Shannon, whose son has been killed by a mobster named Patrovina, enlists Kaminsky in a personal vendetta with a promise of reinstatement into the FBI if Patrovina is taken down. To accomplish this, he must go undercover and join Patrovina's gang.
When Hong Kong Inspector Lee is summoned to Los Angeles to investigate a kidnapping, the FBI doesn't want any outside help and assigns cocky LAPD Detective James Carter to distract Lee from the case. Not content to watch the action from the sidelines, Lee and Carter form an unlikely partnership and investigate the case themselves.
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.
A color-blind psychiatrist is stalked by an unknown killer after taking over his murdered friend's therapy group and becomes embroiled in an intense affair with a mysterious woman who may be connected to the crime.
A male prison escapee heads for his hidden loot, electronically attached to a female prisoner.
Freddy Heflin is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful town populated by the big city police officers he’s long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town’s peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive, deadly conspiracy among these local residents, he is forced to take action and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law.
After assuming his dead cellmate's identity to get with his girlfriend, an ex-con finds himself the reluctant participant in a casino heist.