[Locke]

Also rewatched The Last Stand - review also to follow.

With cinema taking a detour into a sea of 80s nostalgia I cringed a little, but films like The Last Stand proved that you can make a great film out of 80stalgia if you don't simply rely on that to carry the film on its own. At least, that is what I thought when I came out of the cinema in January of last year.

Over the course of that year it found itself from my favourite of the year to sliding off of my top ten all together. Watching it again, I think I made the wrong decision taking it off of my list and will be adding it back on as soon as this is posted. This is a damn fine movie that deserves to be on your shelf.

Critically The Last Stand's fun factor seemed to outweigh its pulpiness and managed to largely win out the stuffy critics who might have decried it otherwise. It's pretty rare for critics to accept a film for what it is trying to do, and not to compare it to things it could never compete against and was never intending to in the first place.

Speaking firstly about the Bluray, damn this movie is GORGEOUS. Crisp, clean image packed full of texture and detail, on my big ass full HD TV this was a joy for my eyes. It also helps that Jee-woon is a very strong visual director. Jee-woon clearly has a rich understanding of scene composition, all of the action sequences are really well staged and he knows how to add lots of personal style touches to his film, without rubbing your face in it. Honestly he had me the moment he unveiled an action sequence with a mostly steady camera where I could follow what was happening.

With the way the film was marketed, Peter Stormare chewing the scenery in the opening moments and Arnie being a giant cardboard cut out of himself it quickly establishes expectations of the film, that the film then focuses on deconstructing and full on ripping down for a very engaging experience.

The 80s actioner has largely been revisioned as a comedy genre, with all of its cheesy bombast and just well...the sheer 80sness of it all. It was never intended to be seen that way though, those films take themselves very seriously, for better or worse. The Last Stand however is pretty much the polar opposite, an oddly restrained action film with a heavy emphasis on character, and action sequences that are largely brief and self contained.

There is a whole other movie underneath the surface and between the lines here that only becomes more apparent the more you watch it, with a narrative of thematic depth not usually seen in movies like this. It's actually a very bleak film with a lot of emotional resonance and a firm anchoring in a movie logic reality.

Death is not a glorious thing in this film, it's presented as messy, painful and sad. 80s action films, for all their violence, existed largely in a Tom and Jerry world whereas The Last Stand, although still cartoonish in places, gives a much harsher sense of reality to it's action. Hell in the first fight Owens really gets to sink his teeth into results in his Deputy, Jerry, bleeding out on the backseat of his truck in a messy, painful and insanely bleak death for a character who up to this point was just a harmless comic relief character. I know a character always has to die to raise the stakes, but damn.

Most of the indulgences in the film are saved for the last stand which the film is seemingly named after, which is fine with me. Owens is given near superhuman abilities "don't worry it's just glass" he says nonchalantly, as he pulls a shard of glass out of his shredded thigh with barely a wince. I laughed out loud in the theatre, and I laughed out loud this time around too. Armed with "Vicky the Nazi-Killer" he's a hellish force of nature and after so much pent up angst, it's so nice to see the movie let loose.

This is also where Stormare gets to shine. His masterful scenery chewing is pretty out of place throughout the movie, but during the final action sequence he just gets so many great lines and seems to be having such a wonderful time (or is just high as shit, I really can't tell) that he is just so enjoyable to watch.

Other highlights include the numerous chase sequences in the movie, all made awesome by the gorgeous Chevrolet corvette zr1. A hilariously brutal kill with a flaregun and the brilliant Mrs. Salazar and her surprising moment of extreme violence, "Put the hurt on 'em, Ray!".

Probably the biggest disappointment is Jaimie Alexander's character, Sarah. Alexander is by far the best actor in this thing and she gets to be more than just the pretty face of the movie but during the point of the movie where she should get to be her most badass she gets a stupid romantic subplot dropped in her lap and that is the end of her importance to the movie. Because of course girl characters need to be kissing boys, rather than shooting guns, shooting guns is for men!

Ultimately, at the end of the day, The Last Stand was an excuse to get Arnie back to doing what he does best, spouting one liners while beating people to death with charm and charisma. It more than succeeds at that while also providing an above average production and a narrative slightly more thoughtful than you've probably come to expect from these sorts of films. Why'd I ever take this off of my best of 2013 list?