It is shocking to hear that Arnold's return film is a commerical failure and a critical failure. However, after watching the film it is evident as to why. 'The Last Stand' attempts to create some humor and excitement but overall fails with such bland action sequences, a story that takes far too long to set up and by the end, simply isn't satisfying.
This is not Arnold's Terminator 2. Obviously, this is simply a big dumb action film or so it was supposed to be. The Last Stand suffers greatly by having a story that is too heavily focused on the FBI and Forrest Whitaker's side of the story that the Arnold aspect of the film is heavily reduced. Even the scenes that he is in aren't particularly interesting, he is clearly unable to show much physical agility right now. This is most evident towards the film's climax, where he fights the escaped fugitive on a bridge in a fist fight. This scene looks totally laughable, even if his character is supposed to play an aging sheriff. Arnold's inexperience in physical combat clearly pays off in this one on one fight scene.
The story deals with an escaped fugitive who escapes from the FBI. As the FBI continue to pursue this man, the fugitive must pass the Owen's town, where he and a group of friends are ready for action! Definitely a repetitive storyline but the issue isn't the premise. We Arnold fans simply wanted to see him kicking ass in this film but the film attempts to be extremely realistic and so suffers. The best sequences in the film are actually not containing Arnold but instead, the escaped fugitive, the FBI and the fugitive's Ferrari. That is such a pity.
Whilst the Ferrari scenes involving the fugitive eluding the FBI is exciting, none of the action sequences containing Arnold interested me. Most of his story frustrated me as I expected so much more action. All the best action sequences in the film do not contain him, and for a majority of the film, he does not play much of a part. The action sequences are not necessarily over the top and exciting, they aren't inventive and aren't eye grabbing in any way. To sum up the action in a word would be: BLAND
Arnold Schwarzenegger is by no means a fantastic actor and we know that. He gives good enough performances in some of his films but never has his acting being worse. I would never use this criticism against one of his films but the fact that the story was long and boring, the characters were uninteresting and the fact that most of the action scenes aren't appealing, is when I would criticize his acting. It is truly terrible in the film, making for some of his action sequences hard to watch. The cinematography for these action scenes are also uninteresting and the overuse of digital blood is often distracting. Even then, The Expendable 2 used plenty of digital blood but had extremely engaging action sequences.
Now, Arnold's performance by no means ruins the movie and I am able to get past that fauly, but the rest of the film I cannot get past. The story is poorly structured, spending far too much time away from Arnold that this may well be called a Forrest Whitaker film, the characters aren't very interesting, even Arnold's character and the action sequences are extremely uninteresting and bland. This is definitely not the big over the top action film I was looking for and definitely not a great Arnold return film. He simply doesn't seem to have the same charisma that he once had, something which Sylvester Stallone has yet to lose.
Grade- 3.5/10
Showing posts with label Arnold Schwarzenegger film reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arnold Schwarzenegger film reviews. Show all posts
Saturday, 11 May 2013
Friday, 10 May 2013
#9- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) review
Simply said, Terminator 2 is one of the greatest sequels of all time. James Cameron knew exactly what to do with Terminator 2 and that is to get a bigger budget, a deeper and bigger story, more characters, better action sequences and an iconic villain.
In Terminator 2, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the T-800 from the original Terminator film whilst Robert Patrick plays the T-1000, the most deadly terminator to ever live....Forget about the T-X..that simply did not happen! Two terminators were sent back in time, one to kill John and one to strike out his mother before John was born. John Connor managed to re-program one of the terminators to save him on this particular moment.
This is why the story is simply so much bigger in Terminator 2. It is so much more grander, a more visual and technical achievement and features a surprisingly good enough performance by Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose T-800 is still intimidating even if he is the good guy. Robert Patrick does a good job playing the T-1000 and he brings a certain intensity to the film. Linda Hamilton is absolutely terrific in this film as Sarah Connor and Edward Furlong is definitely great at playing her son John, despite some moments where he is rather weak in acting.
Visually, Terminator 2 is an amazing achievement in cinema. It features incredible T-1000 special effects that still stand out today. The action sequences in Terminator 2 are more entertaining than they were in the original. Scenes such as the T-1000 chasing John Connor on truck, to Arnold fighting the T-1000 in the mall stand out as amazing. But the greatest stuff in the film comes right at the end, in the last 15 minutes which is full of iconic moments that were beautifully shot and has some incredible suspense.
Terminator 2 is definitely a more realistic film than the original and features some incredibly emotional sequences throughout the film. The scene where Sarah learns that Miles Dyson is the man who will one day be responsible for building Skynet and thus, destroy mankind is amazing. Her mission to then kill this man is an amazing moment as Sarah herself, was becoming a Terminator. That was a fantastic character arc right there and the themes and questions that this film tackles are absolutely fantastic. Terminator 2 has these type of scenes that make the characters all the more interesting. The best part of the film isn't the action or the effects but instead the fatherly bond that the T-800 grows for John and the T-800 becoming more human throughout the film. This was absolutely brilliant and when it comes to the end of the film, it makes it that much more emotional.
In the end, 'Terminator 2' is one of the all time great sequels improving upon every minor weakness by the original and making it a simply grander and more entertaining film! James Cameron certainly did know how to make sequels.
Grade- 10/10
In Terminator 2, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the T-800 from the original Terminator film whilst Robert Patrick plays the T-1000, the most deadly terminator to ever live....Forget about the T-X..that simply did not happen! Two terminators were sent back in time, one to kill John and one to strike out his mother before John was born. John Connor managed to re-program one of the terminators to save him on this particular moment.
This is why the story is simply so much bigger in Terminator 2. It is so much more grander, a more visual and technical achievement and features a surprisingly good enough performance by Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose T-800 is still intimidating even if he is the good guy. Robert Patrick does a good job playing the T-1000 and he brings a certain intensity to the film. Linda Hamilton is absolutely terrific in this film as Sarah Connor and Edward Furlong is definitely great at playing her son John, despite some moments where he is rather weak in acting.
Visually, Terminator 2 is an amazing achievement in cinema. It features incredible T-1000 special effects that still stand out today. The action sequences in Terminator 2 are more entertaining than they were in the original. Scenes such as the T-1000 chasing John Connor on truck, to Arnold fighting the T-1000 in the mall stand out as amazing. But the greatest stuff in the film comes right at the end, in the last 15 minutes which is full of iconic moments that were beautifully shot and has some incredible suspense.
Terminator 2 is definitely a more realistic film than the original and features some incredibly emotional sequences throughout the film. The scene where Sarah learns that Miles Dyson is the man who will one day be responsible for building Skynet and thus, destroy mankind is amazing. Her mission to then kill this man is an amazing moment as Sarah herself, was becoming a Terminator. That was a fantastic character arc right there and the themes and questions that this film tackles are absolutely fantastic. Terminator 2 has these type of scenes that make the characters all the more interesting. The best part of the film isn't the action or the effects but instead the fatherly bond that the T-800 grows for John and the T-800 becoming more human throughout the film. This was absolutely brilliant and when it comes to the end of the film, it makes it that much more emotional.
In the end, 'Terminator 2' is one of the all time great sequels improving upon every minor weakness by the original and making it a simply grander and more entertaining film! James Cameron certainly did know how to make sequels.
Grade- 10/10
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