So, since so far of late I've been on a bit of a Arnold Schwarzenegger run lately on the blog, I figured I would do another of Arnie's films. So, this one is a film I have watched recently and its the Last Action Hero, which was critically panned on its release and was a box office bomb also.
However 31 years onward from its release, is Last Action Hero still a dud? Well, let's take a look and find out...
And the usual warning is coming up...
PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
STORY
Right, so the story begins
with a young boy named Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) who is a fan of
the action franchise movies involving the character Jack Slater (Arnie) a
rogue LAPD cop who isn't afraid of anyone when it comes to taking down
bad guys. On the the night before the premier of the new Jack Slater
movie: Jack Slater IV, Danny is given the chance to see a private
viewing of the film courtesy of his friend, Nick (Robert Prosky) an old
man who operates a run down movie theatre in New York city. However
Nick tells Danny that his admission ticket is a magic one that was once
given to him by Harry Houdini. A few minutes into the film however
while Danny sits enjoying it he is unaware that his ticket stub begins
to glow during an action scene where bad guy chase Jack and they throw
sticks on dynamite at his car. But one of them suddenly flies out of
the cinema screen right next Danny who flees and runs towards the cinema
screen just before it explodes.
Danny soon wakes up in the back of a
car, which turns out to be Jack Slater's as it quickly dawns on Danny
that he is now in the movie himself. After Jack loses the bad guys,
Danny tries to explain to Jack that they are in a movie but Jack
dismisses the idea and takes him to the police station where Danny sees
some outlandish characters such as cartoon detective named Whiskers
(voiced by Danny De Vito).
Afterward Jack and Danny drive along to find the bad guys that were
behind the attack on Jack and Danny identifies the house he saw at the
beginning of the movie, which belongs to the mob boss Tony Vivaldi
(Anthony Quinn). Jack and Danny ring the door bell at the mansion and
are greeted by Vivaldi's British henchman, Mr Benedict (Charles Dance)
who is know for wearing a variety of different glass eyes who soon turns
them away but after they go, Benedict overhears Danny make a reference
to a scene he saw earlier in the film.
After this Jack and Danny meet with Jack's daughter, Whitney (Bridgette Wilson) but are soon raided by Benedict and his thugs. Benedict has Danny searched and he takes with him the contents of Danny's pockets which includes the half of the magic ticket. Jack then manages to fight off and kill most of Benedict's thugs but Benedict himself manages to escape and later discovers that he could enter the real world using the magic ticket as it creates a portal for him to travel through.
Later on Jack and Danny learn that Vivaldi intends to wipe out his enemies during a rooftop funeral for a mob associate by planting nerve gas into the body. Jack however manages with Danny's help to remove the body from the roof using a crane, which Danny operates and dumps the body into a tarpit just before it explodes. Benedict soon after at Vivaldi's mansion, kills Vivaldi but afterward Jack crashes into the mansion in Whitney's truck and he beats up Benedict and throws him through a wall but due to the magic ticket, Benedict is transported into the real world via the portal.
Jack
suddenly realises that Danny was right all along as they step through
the portal themselves and its from here they must find a way to stop
Benedict from wreaking havoc in New York....
THOUGHTS
OK so this might be a rather unpopular view but I happen to
like Last Action Hero as a film and its mainly because in a way it was
ahead of its time by poking fun at the cliches of action movies of its
time and in that respect it makes it a fairly shrewd and intelligent
film even if it isn't always entirely successful in that area. The film
however itself on release was a critical and financial failure as it
bombed at the box office and it was alleged that even its director John
McTiernan wanted to remove his name from the credits. But despite all
that it still has alot of fun moments in it and enjoyable over the top
action scenes some of which are quite hilarious because how stupid they
are. Schwarzenegger himself later said he felt Last Action Hero was one of his most underrated films and I'd have to agree with him.
PERFORMANCES (warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
So performance wise Last Action Hero is overall not too bad starting
with Arnie who as we all know is far from the world's best actor but
when it comes to action movies it is his forte and he fairs pretty well
in his role as Jack Slater, who is essentially postmodern version of
Dirty Harry.
Starting with the star of the film, Arnold Scwarzenegger has plenty of amusing moments in the film as well as cheesy one-liners.
And to quote a few of Arnie's scenes there is the one at the start where Jack defies his superior officer, Lt Dekker's orders to not interfere. So, Dekker says to Jack "Goddamn it, Jack! I'm talking to you! If you go in there, its your badge!" and Jack tosses his badge to Dekker, who looks stunned. So, as Dekker says to him "Do not let him in!" one of the cops says "Piece of cake!" but Jack then faces the cop and says
to him "Hey, you want to be a farmer? Here's a couple of achers!" and
he kicks the cop in the testes! Jack then takes the cop's radio and says "Dekker, next one I'll hurt!" and he crushes the radio as we hear Dekker protest.
Then there is the scene where Danny suddenly finds himself in the movie and in the back of Jack's car during an intense action scene and after they evade some bad guys Danny says "I thought I was dead" and Jack says "Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but you're gonna live to enjoy all the glorious fruits life has got to offer - acne, shaving, premature ejaculation... and your first divorce!".
And another funny moment comes when Danny who is at schools sits during a lecture on Shakespeare and daydreams about Jack Slater being Hamlet. And we cut to a fantasy scene where Jack dressed in a period costume as Hamlet lights his cigar and says to a man behind him "Hey Claudius, you killed my father" and then he grabs him and says his calling card "Big mistake!!" before throwing the man through a window. And in the next sequence Jack starts fighting and slaying his enemies with a sword and then he is stopped by an old man who says "Stay thy hand, fair prince!" prompting Jack to say "Who said I'm fair?!" and then produces an uzi and shoots him!
Then we have the scene where Jack and Danny drive round to find Vivaldi's house and Danny spots it and says "It looks just like that one! In fact IT IS THAT ONE! The bad guys are in there!". Jack then smiles and points to his badge and says to Danny "You know, I think you should wear this" and he hands it to Danny who says "I don't think I've earned it yet". Jack however then tells Danny "You don't understand. You just solved the entire case. you just revolutionized the entire history of police training. I mean all these years at the academy, studying human character, psyche of the terrorists, fingerprint analysis, all the courses that I've taken in surveillance, hostage negotiation, and criminal psychology, when all I have to do is drive around the neighborhood, point my finger at a house, and say, "the bad guys are in there!"?. Danny not amused says "You think you're funny, don't you?" and Jack says "I know I am! I'm the famous comedian Arnold Braunschweiger" and Danny corrects him" Schwarzenegger" and Jack says "Gseundheit!".
Then there is the scene where Jack and Danny question Benedict at
Vivaldi's mansion and Benedict threatens that he could have them both
killed by his guard dogs by snapping his thumbs and asks if there are
any questions. And Jack says "Yeah two of them. Why am I wasting my
time with a gangster putzes like you when I could be doing
something more dangerous - like rearranging my sock drawers? And two,
how
exactly are you going to snap your fingers, after I rip off both of your
thumbs?!".
Another amusing scene from Arnie also comes after
Jack is suspended from duty and he and Danny go back to his place and he
enters and without warning fires his gun at his closet door and opens
to find an assassin fall dead out of it! And Danny asks "How did you
know there was a guy in there?" and Jack replies "There's always a guy
in there. It costs me a fortune in closet doors!". In the scene Jack also laments over his personal situation and how he is divorced and fears for his own life as well as for his daughter's, Meredith. So, Jack tells Danny "Why can't she be like any normal teenager? At nights, she stays home and field strips her AK-47!".
And another amusing
scene is where Jack and Danny are back in the real world they try and
find Benedict who has escaped their sights in a taxi and Jack rips open a
taxi door only to find its the wrong one and he grabs the taxi driver
and says to him "
You've seen these movies where they say "Make my day" or "I'm your worst
nightmare"? Well, listen to this one: Rubber baby buggie bumpers!" and
he turns to Danny saying "Ha! You didn't know I was going to say that,
did you?!" leaving Danny perplexed.
Then there is the moment at the premiere for Jack Slater IV where Jack
tries to prevent The Ripper (Tom Noonan) from killing Arnold
Schwarzenegger only to have Arnie pounce on Jack instead to stop him
from shooting the very man who is trying to kill him! And afterward the
real Arnie says to Jack "You know you are the best movie lookalike I've
ever seen!". And as Arnie tries to persuade Jack into getting roped
into celebrity appearances with him Jack stops him and says "I don't
really like you, alright? You've brought me nothing but pain!".
And
last of all there is the scene when up on the rooftops Jack confronts Benedict, who fires a few shots at Jack and Danny as he tells his plan to user the magic tickets to recruit some movie villains. So, Benedict says to Jack "I shall miss you, Jack" and he pulls the trigger and his gun clicks and Jack stands and says "Gee! Did you make a movie mistake?! You forgot to reload of the damn gun!" but Benedict tells him "No, I just left one chamber empty!" and he shoots Jack in the chest. However, before Benedict can finish off Jack, Danny stops him and throws Jack his gun and Jack aims it at
Benedict's explosive glass eye and says "No sequel for you!" and shoots
him, blowing Benedict to pieces.
Then we have Austin O'Brien let's face it can be a rather annoying little dweeb at times in this movie but to be fair, he still does OK in his role as Danny, the kid who get's literally caught up in the Jack Slater movie.
And O'Brien does have some amusing moments in the film that include the scene where Danny has an idea and writes down a rude word on a piece of paper and asks Jack to say it who says "Kid, grow up!". And as Danny presses Jack to say it, Jack says "Kid. I don't wanna say it!" and Danny teasingly says "Sat what?" and Jack says nothing and Danny grins and says "I knew it! You can't possibly say it, because this movie is a PG-13!".
Then there is the scene where Danny while he is in the movie attempts to play chicken with a car while he rides a bicycle he says to himself "Chicken it is!" but it soon dawns on him that " I'm a comedy sidekick. Oh, shit! I'm a comedy sidekick! IT'S NOT GONNA WORK!" and he proceeds to do an ET cycle over the moon (via ramping over a house) before he crashes.
Then we have the scene where Jack goes to the funeral of Leo the Fart and meets with fellow cop, John Practice, who is a corrupt cop, who cuffs Jack to a pipe but Danny surprises him and points a gun at him and shouts "Freeze! How do you get to Carnegie hall?! In a body bag if you don't put that gun down!" but Practice slowly moves to Danny and says "That's doubtful, kid. That's real doubtful!" and he swiftly takes the gun off him. However, in the next scene Danny manages to get the gun and points it again at Practice and says "See you've made the classic movie mistake, you gave too much away. You could have just shot Jack but no, you're the typical villain, dumb!" only for Vivaldi to appear behind with a gun pointed at Danny and he says "You're no genius yourself, kid!".
Then there is the scene where in the real world Jack plays chicken with a taxi that Benedict is in but they arrives to find Benedict has vanished but his butler who was driving the car lies died having crashed through the cab window. So, Danny tries to persuade Jack to check the cab closer to ensure they are dead and he says "Yeah they always look dead but what about the scene in Die Hard, where the guy was hanging by the chains and he comes back!" and Jack teases him as he goes to check the car "I think he might be wearing a windshield wiper!" but finds Benedict has gone but he finds a newspaper and he looks serious, and Danny suggests "Maybe he used the ticket. We've gotta stop him!" and Jack says "Kid, that ain't the half of it!" and he shows the picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger, which has a big red cross through it.
And last of all is the scene where Jack arrives back in the movie at the end where he is badly injured from his gunshot from Benedict and Jack persuades Danny to return to his normal life and be there for his mother. So, in the scene Danny emotionally says to Jack "Its just I'm scared I'm never gonna see you again" and Jack says "However says that, is making a big mistake!" and they both hug.
Charles Dance performance wise probably fares the best out of the cast
here as he plays the part of Benedict pretty well and seems to enjoy
playing up as the villain.
Dance also has some good scenes in the film
that include the scene where Benedict is questioned by Jack at Vivalid's
mansion and Benedict threatens him by saying regarding the guard dogs
at the mansion "I snap my fingers again and some time tomorrow, you
emerge from several
canine recta! Or you and Toto can return to the land of Oz". So, when Jack threatens to "rip off both his thumbs" when Benedict refuses to remove his glass, Benedict relents and we see he has a smiley face eyepiece and he says "Have a nice day" and shuts the door.
Also
there is the scene where Benedict turns up with his thugs at Jack's
ex-wife's house where he questions Danny and says to him "
I must warn you, I've killed people smarter and younger than you!". Danny then tries to con Benedict into taking Jack's countergeit money, which goes funny colours when its burnt. So, Benedict says to Danny "You were trying sucker me with marked bills! Don't play games with adults, little boy, or you will get hurt!".
Then there is the scene Benedict pretends that Vivaldi's plan to wipe
out his enemies went perfectly but then he tells Vivaldi "People were writhing and screaming in pain to get away from the explosion" and Vivaldi laughs and says "Really?" and Benedicts admits
"No. I'm lying it was a complete and utter balls up and I've had a
terrible day thanks largely to you!" pointing a gun at Vivaldi. And Vivaldi
surprised says "All of a sudden you do a 360 on me!" and Benedict
corrects him for the last time "180, you stupid, spaghetti-slurping
cretin - *180*! If I did a 360, I'd go completely around and end up back
where I started!" and Vivaldi looks puzzled and asks "What?" and Benedict finally had enough says "Trust me!" and shoots Vivaldi.
And lastly there is the
scene where back in the real world where up on the rooftops Benedict
taunts Jack by saying how he will plan to use Danny's magic ticket to
lure out all the worst villains from movies. And as Benedict is about
to shoot Jack his gun clicks and Jack emerges from hiding saying "Gee!
Did you make a movie mistake?! You forgot to reload the damn gun!" and
Benedict says "No, Jack. I just left one chamber empty!" and then
shoots him and afterward saying "You see, Jack. Bad guys can win!".
As for the supporting cast they are all mostly pretty good such as Frank
McRae as Lt Dekker, Jack's boss who is always yelling at and berating
Jack. And McRae's most common line in the film is of course
"SLATERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!" whenever he wants Jack in his office.
McRae has some good lines as well such as in the opening scene where he
warns Jack not to go in and attempt to rescue his son "The last time you
pulled this jive, jitterbug, tough gonad shit - people lost body
parts! Now you go in there and its your badge!" and Jack casually
tosses his badge back to Dekker.
Then there is the scene where goes into Dekker's office, who tells him off for the damages he's done to the city but is concerned by Danny's knowledge of their relationship based on the previous Jack Slater films Danny had seen. So, Danny tells Dekker how his anger to Jack is just a cover for how he feels for him and Dekker asks "Pray tell how do I feel about this sack of puppy poo?!" and Danny says they are good friends and goes on to reveal and private detail that both men shared re: Dekker's ex-wife. Jack however denies telling anyone about it and Dekker shouts "HOW THE HELL DID HE KNOW?!" and Jack says "I don't even know this kid!" and Dekker suspiciously says "Well, he seems to know alot about us". So, as Dekker and Jack interrogate Danny, Danny pretends he just fell off a walkover bridge into Jack's car and Dekker says "Finally the truth!".
Then there is the scene where after Jack's ex-wife's house is destroyed along with some LAPD cops after they unwittingly detonate a bomb which was one of Benedict's glass eyes, Dekker yells incoherently at both Jack and Danny with steam eventually (and literally) coming out his ears! And Draker finally says "Well see if this is clear enough! Give me your badge! And this time you WON'T get it back!".
And last of all is the scene where Jack returns to the movie and he breaks the window of Dekker's office and grins and says "Its working again!". So, Dekker angrily tells Jack "I hope you know that window will come out your meagre but undeserved pay cheque, you wanna fucking tango up and down the Hershey highway!". Jack then tells Dekker "Look, I know why you're like this, you're the comic relief and I'm the hero, so SHUT UP!!".
And I could go on and mention the other cast members who do well enough
in their respective roles such as Mercedes Ruehl as Danny's mother, Irene.
So, I will mention one of her scenes, which is the one where Jack and Irene talk and in the morning after Danny brings Jack to his home. So, as Danny wakes up and sees Jack and Irene chat in the kitchen, Irene says to Danny "Why didn't you tell me you were at the police station all night looking at mug shots?!" and Jack also asks "Why do stay out so late and go to the movies all the time when you know your mother is worried?" and Danny groans and says "Mom! You turned him into a wimp!". Danny then makes reference to the Harrison Ford film, Witness and going into hiding and Irene says "We're not Jewish" and Danny corrects her "Amish" and Irene says "Whatever-ish!".
Bridgette Wilson is also pretty good as Jack's daughter Whitney who has a good moment in the scene where Whitney is being beaten by one of Benedict's thugs and she screams in an exagerrated manner. However suddenly she says "Big mistake!" and kills the thug and kills another takes their gun. So, afterward goes into the living room and points her gun at Benedict and says "Freeze! Let him him go, or I'll decorate this room with brain matter grey, got it?!".
Then there is the scene where after Jack lands in a pool of tar after successfully disposing of Leo the fart in the tar pit who is loaded with explosives and he goes off and Whitney turns up in a jeep with some fresh clothes for Jack. So, as she pulls up, she says "Hey Dad! I heard you were here and thought you might need some fresh clothes!" and Danny asks "Don't you think this is all a bit convenient?" and Jack says "Hey, kid, you always said this was a movie" as he wipes off the tar.
Also Anthony Quinn as the incompetent mob boss Vivaldi who appears to also enjoy himself in delivering Vivaldi's various misfiring puns.
Quinn has some amusing scenes as well such as the one where he has captured Jack's cousin, Frank, who he has tortured and he tells Frank a lie about two opposing mob families joining forces. So, after he says to Benedict "He really thinks they are joining forces together. But soon everyone will know that Tony Vivaldi is number one!".
Then there is the scene where Vivaldi berates Benedict for failing to kill Jack and he says "You had Slater in front of the eight ball but you always screwed it up!" and he drives off, leaving Benedict annoyed, who takes off his sunglasses and corrects Vivaldi "Its BEHIND the eight ball, you moron!".
And last of all is the scene where Vivaldi wants to know how Leo the Fart's funeral went anticipating, Leo, who was planted with explosives, took out the rival mob families but was thwarted by Jack. So, as Benedicts arrives back we hear Vivaldi ask "Tell how did it go?" and Benedicts says "It went perfectly!" and Vivaldi "Did it?" and Benedict "Perfect in every detail!" and Vivaldi laughs and says "Come on, I want to hear everything!". Benedict then pretends everyone died in great pain and agony but he comes clean and says "No, I'm lying, it was a complete and utter balls and I've had a terrible day, thanks largely to you!" and he points his gun at Vivaldi. So, Vivaldi looks shocked and says "Look, I was loyal to you and took you up and you do this 360 on me!" but Benedict finally snaps and says "180, you stupid spaghetti slurping cretin! 180! If I done a 360, I'd end up right back where I started!" and Vivaldi looks confused and says "What?" and Benedict says "Trust me!" and shoots Vivaldi.
Tom Noonan also does pretty well in his role as the serial axe killer, the Ripper who appeared in Jack Slater III and Benedict uses the magic ticket to bring him into the real world to kill Jack and Schwarzenegger.
I will mention one of Noonan's scenes, which is the one where the Ripper holds Danny hostage up on the rooftops similar to how the ending of Jack Slater III went. So, the Ripper says to Jack "Hi, Jack. Glad you could make it!". The Ripper grins and says "We've been here before, haven't we Jack!" so he goes through the motions of what he did in Jack Slater III. So, the Ripper says "So, you drop your gun and you tell me to put the axe down and tell me to let go of the kid and...I'm getting bored, Jack, let's skip to the end!" and he throws Danny off the roof and his axe at Jack, which misses. So, Jack grabs the axe and his uses to smash into a power unit, which electrocutes the Ripper who screams "I'LL BE BAAAAACK!!!!" and he falls down dead and Jack says "The hell you will!".
And lastly Robert Prosky provides the film with a fairly charming performance as Nick who runs the old run down theatre where he gives Danny a private screening of Jack Slater IV.
Prosky has some fun moments too such as the scene where he tells Danny about the magic ticket and how Harry Houdini once gave it to him. So, Nick tells Danny how Houdini told him "This ticket has a mind of its own and is a gateway into another world and now its yours!" and he hands it to Danny and says casually "And now its yours". So, Nick tears it in half and gives the other half to Danny saying in a professional voice "Please retain your stub, sir!".
And later on as he tries to reassure Jack after he is back in the real world there are worse things in life "There are lots of things worse than movies: politicians, wars, forest fires, famine, plague, sickness, pain, warts, politicians..." and Jack says "You already mentioned them" and Nick says "Yeah I know they're twice as worse than anything else!".
And last of all is the last scene where Danny hands the magic ticket to Nick and says "You were right, Nick, it sure was magic" and Nick says "Achh! The ticket is yours, Danny. In fact to tell you the truth, I think the magic was yours too".
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
Finally moving onto the director, John McTiernan despite the rumours of his disgruntlement of
working on the film actually does a pretty decent job here and he is no
stranger to staging action sequences and doing them pretty well and he
does here once again. McTiernan also manages to keep the pace of the
film going at a good fast rate and it rarely ever lags at any time in
the film. McTiernan however later in an interview did state that he
felt that the film's release was extremely rushed as it came out just a
week after Jurassic Park so it was never going to survive as well at the
box office and also that he felt the film needed re-editing in order to
improve on it saying that there was "a pretty neat film somewhere in
there!".
Score wise the film features a pretty good score by the now late Michael
Kamen, who was no stranger to doing action films and his score provides
some good beefy moments of rock (such as Jack's theme) and orchestral
arrangements. The film is also noted for its use of some hard rock
songs from bands such as AC/DC, Alice in Chains, Megadeth, Aerosmith,
Anthrax and Cypress Hill.
FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
So flaws...... yeah ok Last Action Hero is by no means perfect.
For staters, one thing that does threaten to ruin it is the character of Danny himself as he really is an annoying little dick who is a bit too cocky and self aware and is too keen to pick up on the flaws, cliches or hooks of the Slater films. Also Danny being a kid rather naively opens his big mouth at the wrong time in the film as he mentions to Jack shortly after the chat to Benedictwho overhears Danny quote lines from earlier in the movie that "he called his boss a Sicilian schmuck!" but surely he probably should have thought better of that as that's what ultimately rumbled Danny and kicked off the events that lead to Benedict travelling through the portal into the real world.
Danny also is too quick to
show off being a smart ass to anyone around him which is well noted in
the scene where at the police station he turns to someone and says "Hi,
I'm Danny Madigan. I'll be Jack's partner for the duration of the
film!". And another example is when he makes another smart-ass
observation after Jack meets Whitney and says to himself "Hi. I am Danny
Madigan and my life has not been long yet. But from now on, I know it
will be all downhill". Achhh shuddduppp!
The film also is filled with too many cameo characters such as the
animated cartoon detective and John Practice who ultimately don't really
serve too much point to the movie even though Practice does betray Jack
so he has some sort of semblance of involvement in the story. Then
there are some daft cameo inclusions of the T-1000 (played again by
Robert Patrick) and Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) from Basic Instinct
at the police station and its like they just appear out of nowhere but
again their inclusion overall is pretty pointless other than a
superficial reference to other movies of the time.
It also has to be said the film features some pretty daft and rather
obvious jokes such as the dead mob associate called Leo De-Fart, who
just happened to apparently fart alot when he was still around and his
body is used to release poison gas, which prompts the joke from Jack
"The De-Fart is going to pass gas one last time!" and later followed by
"He was a good man. A flatulent man!". Yeah there is nothing too
original there!
They even also try to do a piss-take on
Sylvester Stallone being the Terminator in the scene where Danny while
in the Jack Slater IV movie, takes Jack to a video store only to find a
cardboard cutout add for Terminator 2 with Sly instead of Arnie
pictured, which ultimately backfires as its not that funny a joke. And
strangely enough Sly's much better received Demolition Man (released
near the same time) made a similar joke about Arnie being voted as a
future president, which after he became the Governor of California
wasn't too far off the mark!
Also toward the end of the film it becomes a bit of a mess in just where
the film is trying to pitch itself as it appears to really choke itself
on its own sense of self-congratulation and in trying to be clever.
This is especially noted in the scenes where Arnie plays a rather (or
seemingly!) exaggerated version of himself who is a total egomaniac and
is later stunned as he is saved by Jack who turns to him and says he
doesn't really like him.
The film also seems to invent its own convention such as a mortal wound like a gunshot can all of a sudden magically become a flesh wound in the movies! So when (SPOILER FOR WHAT ITS WORTH!!) Jack is shot by Benedict and he is dying in the real world as soon as he get's back into the movies its barely as I said a flesh wound so that means basically Jack is virtually indestructable on screen (or IN the screen!).#
Then there is the curiosity of Danny's bruised and cut fingers as its never explained just how he managed to get them in that condition. You could argue that maybe he got into a fight with bullies at school and he did get mugged at his home as he tried to go out but he already had the bruises by then. So, it is a strange inclusion in the film that makes little sense and isn't explained.
And last of all there is the moment where Jack shoots Benedict in the
eye, which of course turns out to be explosive as we already knew from
earlier in the film when one of the forensic cops finds one of
Benedict's glass eyes, he twists a mechanism on it which creates a
powerful explosion. Now my question is this....if Benedict's glass eyes
are explosive then why the hell would he wear them in the first
place???!! It just seems to be a crazy and rather suicidal thing to do
because what if someone tried to shoot him in the earlier on in the
film??! And that would be the end of Benedict pretty quickly and its a
pity Jack didn't think to do that sooner! Also Benedict clearly does
have a real right eye as we see in the scene where he goes back to his
home and he removes his glass eye to reveal his real eye beneath, which
begs the question why bother wear a glass eye in the first place???!!
It just seems pointless.
Anyway that's me done looking at the flaws.
SUM UP
Anyway so that's it for my look at Last Action Hero which despite its
flaws is still an entertaining albeit daft action movie, which was also
strangely one of the first films to satire Hollywood action movies and
for the most part it actually does it quite well. The film also features one of Arnie's most fun performances and he has plenty of funny quips and has fun with the film's outlandish action scenes. Austin O'Brien is quite annoying at times but he does do OK with his role as the precocious Danny, who gets caught in Jack Slater's movie quite literally. The film also features a decent soundtrack from Michael Kamen and solid direction from John McTiernan.
So, while its not a perfect film, Last Action Hero is still worth a look and I think it remains one of Arnie's most underrated films.
So, I will give Last Action Hero (which may shock you!)...
8 out of 10
So, that's it for now and to quite Arnie "I'll be back" with another review soon!
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