My wife went out shopping with her sister today, so I went to see The Last Stand with her cousin. We hold special places in our hearts for big, dumb action movies. Lucky for us, this one was big, but not too dumb.

I haven't seen Expendables 2, but I consider this to be Arnold's true, post-Governator comeback role. And what a comeback it was with, as you guessed it, great Arnold come-backs. The plot wasn't completely brainless, things were mostly logical. The dialogue wasn't great, but still cringe-free (unless you consider Arnold Schwarzenegger films to be the Cringe Plague). The action was fun, fairly well-plotted, and felt relatively fresh. Kim Ji-woon, the director, did a pretty impressive job with his first American production. Kinda makes me want to check out his past films. Seems like it's such a rare thing to have a movie set out to do something simple and actually accomplish it.

Overall, I'd say if you like Arnold movies, go welcome him back to the big screen. It's exciting. If he's not your thing, you probably already know you're not missing much.

I was a little bummed to see this perform so poorly at the boxoffice.
That poster didn't help it any.

I remember when Ahnuld was the BIGGEST thing on his movie posters.
Now it's the gun and Johnny Knoxville next to him? Bleh.

Perhaps more life could've been breathed into this with the Blazing Saddles approach.
Sheriff Ahnuld is a new transfer locals don't trust.
They have to get over their prejudices to cooperate, etc.
That would've been more spicy than him being established for a while there.
Just do Blazing Saddles as an Ahnuld actioner.
All the one liners and quickie character development you can stand.

This reminds me of when John Woo kinda tanked over here with Hard Target.
Oh well. :/

E.D.

Haven't seen it yet, but I too am quite surprised how poorly it opened.  But then again, I've seen the trailer several times and was far from impressed.

May see it this week for the Hell of it.

I think a big part of it is all the gun violence in the USA in the past month.  Everyone is growing tired of it and a movie that glorifies it is just... not wanted.


Phil

In that case, maybe audiences won't mind sword violence when the new Conan is released.

Saw it with a few of my buddies, and we had a hoot watching it. Set out to be a big, over-the-top almost campy action movie and it succeeded. I'm also disappointed at it's box office reception, but hey, what can you do?

Thinking over this the past few days has really kinda bothered me. I'm 28, but I'm already starting to be marginalized by Hollywood for being too old for their target demo. I mean, an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie is music to my ears...but NO ONE SAW IT. Prior to this weekend, I thought a whole host of folks were eager to see him make a comeback after a string of bad movies and being governor. Now, a really awesome Arnold movie is just an afterthought.

WTF?

Is it true Arnie is to star in the next Terminator flick?

Quoted from alffy Is it true Arnie is to star in the next Terminator flick?

All motion capture the wrinkles right out of him, I'm sure.
Maybe he'll be like Gollum's adopted pop added to The Hobbitses III.
Then he'll be all set to digitally scowl as he drools exposition in Terminator 5!

E.D.

Just got back from a bunch of pitchers and a late showing of this one. It's a shame I work in the morning, BUT --

I'd call this one mostly kick-ass, specifically because it was so damn stupid. Essentially, the bad guy's big thing is that he's got a fast car. There're no twists except a pointless one, no frills except for goofy ones, and no point except for lotsa fun (check my metre, I dare ya). The great triumph of this movie is that it's basically just a shitty early 90s action flick. That's right up my alley -- that might not be true for everyone.

I think Phil's probably on point as to one of the causes of the poor returns, but that's a shame. This bullshit isn't what helps idiots justify violence -- Zero Dark Thirty is. A recommend from me.

Quoted from DanBall Kim Ji-woon, the director, did a pretty impressive job with his first American production. Kinda makes me want to check out his past films.

Yo, you haven't lived until you've The Good The Bad The Weirded. (How's that for a verb?)

Quoted from Heretic Yo, you haven't lived until you've The Good The Bad The Weirded. (How's that for a verb?)

Seriously seconded!
You haven't seen his Leone fueled epic adventure?
It'll make The Last Stand look like a movie about an old guy and his walker.



This is one of the films that helped me get through my first feature script, Red Sun.

Enjoy!

E.D.

Quoted from Dreamscale but I too am quite surprised how poorly it opened.

Really? What is the last movie Arnold headlined that actually made money or didn't suck?

I don't think the gun violence has anything to do with it at all. The generation that watched Arnold back in the 80s & 90s (back when he was kicking ass) are all grown up by now and most - not all - have just moved on. And without us Arnold is dead at the box office. He just doesn't have the star power anymore to lure in a younger generation. I imagine he'll make a decent living doing supporting gigs for younger stars.

I almost feel sorry for him, he's like one of those punch drunk fighters who don't know when to quit.

Quoted from sniper Really? What is the last movie Arnold headlined that actually made money or didn't suck?.

Last movie headlined..... T3 (2003)
Last movie that made money and didn't suck.... who knows.
Last movie headlined that didn't suck, period..... End of Days (1999)

Finally saw this last night on Blu Ray.  I was actually looking forward to it, based on positive word of mouth from SS and RT.

Boy, was I unhappy with what was on display.

I've always liked Arnold.  I've always liked his movies, no matter how bad or dumb they actually were.  Maybe that's because I was so much younger when I watched them and didn't realize just how bad they were?  I don't know.

What I do know is that this sucked big time, IMO.  Pretty much everything about it sucked the high hard one, except for the over the top violence, which I always appreciate.

Everything about this was just so...hmmm...how do I put this?  So...ridiculous?  Maybe that's it, maybe it's more...

Let's see...cliched?  CHECK.  STUPID?  CHECK.  UNREALISTIC?  CHECK.  Over dramatic?  CHECK?  POOR DIALOGUE?  CHECK MATE.  CARDBOARD CHARACTERS?  CHECK MATE!

I guess when you see that Luis Guzman and Johnny Knoxville are the costars, you should know going in that what you're in for is going to be silly.  I don't know.

Damn, I really disliked this mess, the more I think about it.  The plot was just asinine.  The FBI side plot with Forrest Whitaker?  OMG...horridly laughable.  The acting?  Atrocious across the board.

But why did it flop so badly?  A bunch of peeps have chimed in on why they think it stunk like a rotting carcass in the hot, bordertown AZ sun, but I'll tell you straight up why.

It wasn't the movie that was advertised, as far as I'm concerned.  Arnold wasn't even the main star, in terms of screen time or dialogue.  In fact, there were so many different subplots going on, that the audience would completely lose track of the others while another was on screen.

Terrible script.  Terrible concept.  Too convoluted.  Too stupid.

Very upset about this.  I actually feel for Arnold, but he picked a bad script for his "comeback".

Well, no worries. He's supposedly going back to more familiar turf with goes at Terminator, Conan, and Twins. (Is it too much to ask for a Commando sequel?)