“The Last Stand” stars Schwarzenegger as Sheriff Ray Owens, in charge of the microscopically small border town Sommerton Junction, Ariz. A former narcotics officer for the Los Angeles Police Department who is still guilty that his former partner was crippled in a drug raid, Owens retired to his hometown for a better, quieter life. His days are mainly spent hanging around the diner; dealing with the bizarre behavior of Lewis Dinkum (Johnny Knoxville, of “Fun Size” and “Jackass 3D”), caretaker of the local weapons museum; and spending time with other members of the force, including ill-mannered sidekick Mike (Luis Guzmán, of “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island”), hapless newbie Jerry (Zach Gilford, of “Post Grad”) and gorgeous, efficient deputy Sarah (Jaimie Alexander, of “Thor” and “Love and Other Drugs”).
They’re a band of misfits, but they’re Owens’ band—if they want to hang out a cow carcass and use it for target practice, sure! Ray will be there! There is really very little else to do in a place like Sommerton Junction.
Well, until FBI agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker, of “Where the Wild Things Are”) calls with a request. A prisoner Bannister was escorting in Las Vegas, Mexican drug kingpin Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), has slipped away, using a giant magnet and eluding agents, building by building, until he reaches an impressively amped-up Corvette ZR1, which has been modified to reach speeds of more than 200 mph. With that much horsepower and a background in racing, Gabriel probably can’t be stopped—but he’s taken another FBI agent, Ellen (Genesis Rodriguez, of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting,” “Casa de Mi Padre,” and “Man on a Ledge”) hostage. So not only does Bannister need him caught so he doesn’t cross back into Mexico, but so they can safely get Ellen back, too.
Well, Owens isn’t a fool. He’s already picked up that something weird is happening in his town, and he’s able to spot troublemaking newcomers immediately—and, unsurprisingly, they turn out to be Cortez’s henchmen. It’s up to Owens to not only stop baddies like Burrell (Peter Stormare) from threatening his citizens before Cortez gets there, but to quit Cortez’s travels, too. He won’t let these thugs and drug dealers turn Sommerton Junction into a super-violent pit-stop—and his band of misfits is there to help.
To be fair, Andrew Knauer’s screenplay does not sound that complicated; it is, quite simply, a chase movie. And, surprisingly, it’s not all Schwarzenegger screentime—the narrative jumps quite often between Bannister and his agents and Owens and his allies, juxtaposing their simultaneous efforts to stop Cortez and showing how the two sides actually get on each other’s nerves along the way. But there is something about this simple story that works; perhaps it’s because it’s so similar to Western classics like “High Noon” and “Rio Bravo,” but Kim amps up the story in an enjoyable, if dumb, way. Scenes swiftly progress; there’s no waste of time (sadly, however, that means very little character development for anyone onscreen). But Knoxville adds absurdity, Guzmán is likably cantankerous, and Gilford is adorable innocence. And, most importantly, Schwarzenegger is appreciably gruff, explaining the stakes with lines like, “I know what’s coming because I have seen enough blood and death.”
And some of the action scenes are quite daring, like an intro scene that establishes how fast Cortez can really go—when he drives by a cop, the officer clocks a vehicle going by at 200 mph, but assumes it’s a jet or airplane, not a car. Another great chase occurs through a cornfield, and the whipping stalks and roaring cars are certainly memorable. It is uncomfortable, however, when you see a (thankfully child-free) bright yellow school bus riddled with gunshots. You can’t help but think of Sandy Hook—it’s not like Knauer or Kim could have known that months ago when the film was in production, but still.
Overall, what “The Last Stand” does best is refuse to take itself too seriously. The action scenes are stupid fun, the script passable, the acting fine. To put it bluntly, Schwarzenegger could have done far worse. “The Last Stand” isn’t nearly the lowest he can go.
