Wordiezett So much average

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Benjamin Cox You ever have a film in your mind that you loved as a kid but have since drifted away from? I remember watching this around the time of release and fell for its overly stylised, excessive violence and moody, oppressive atmosphere. But watching it again last night, I was left wondering exactly why I fell for it so badly. It might not be the most original picture out there and it certainly isn't what you'd call uplifting. But there is a strange, almost cartoon-y level of carnage that action fans will lap up. A pity then, that the film is about as deep as your average burst of Tom & Jerry.Bruce Willis plays a drifter who goes by the name of John Smith who winds up in the dead-end ghost town of Jericho, Texas. Quickly discovering that the town is the site of a vicious dispute between two gangs of bootleggers, Smith senses an opportunity to make a quick buck by playing the gangs off against each other. After working with the Italians led by Strozzi (Ned Eisenberg) and then the Irish families led by Doyle (David Patrick Kelly), Smith's plan quickly unravels when Doyle's psychotic right-hand man Hickey (Christopher Walken) reappears in town and takes exception to Smith's quickly-earned reputation as the ultimate gun-for-hire...Shot in a warm orange glow that's reminiscent of a sepia photograph, "Last Man Standing" is a real oddity that blends westerns, gangsters and even Kurosawa in a not-entirely-successful picture. The setting is an odd mix of a hot and sticky western town and even has a corrupt sheriff (Bruce Dern) but seems populated almost entirely by sharp-suited gangsters in old Fords, a snivelling bartender (William Sanderson) and an undertaker for whom business is good. The plot, which shouldn't be that confusing to follow, is lost in a mire of mumbling characters and possibly the dullest voice-over in history by Willis who appears to have suffered from a personality bypass. The problem is exacerbated when Willis and Walken share the screen as each of them sneer and growl at each other like a couple of grumpy old dogs instead of lighting the screen up with sparkling dialogue like the stars they are. At times, it's almost laughable.But then a scene appears when Willis gets to do some serious ass-kicking and indeed, "Last Man Standing" does not disappoint in this department. There is a strong sense that writer/director Walter Hill spent a lot of time watching "Desperado" because this film also has baddies flying through the air, bullets raining down from Willis's dual pistols (which only run out of ammo when the baddies are either dead or reloading themselves) as the screen lights up with muzzle flashes. It is jolly well done and very exciting but when the guns are holstered and Willis is smooth-talking his way into the bed of moll Lucy (Alexandra Powers), the film badly sags. There's no real pulse behind it as the film continues to tell its story, which is one that really hasn't any got much substance to it. Certainly, nothing ever feels at stake and Willis's enigmatic loner is a difficult hero to get behind. Seasoned action fans will get a kick out of this but I can't avoid the feeling that it needed something else. "Desperado" has a feeling of fun to it, a sense that its OK to laugh in places - not to mention the sexiest sidekick of the 90's, Salma Hayek. "Last Man Standing" has no joy or fun to it and in many ways, it's like Smith himself - awesome when there is a gun in its hand but without it, it's a load of nothing.

Gabriel Teixeira A mysterious drifter, identifying himself as John Smith (Bruce Willis), arrives in the small town of Jericho, at the Mexican border. As the city is controlled by two warring gangs, Strozzi's (Ned Eisenberg) and Doyle's (David Patrick Kelly), Smith starts playing both gangs against each other as a means to earn some cash as a hired gun.Yet another adapted version of Akira Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo', this time turned into a gangster film (with a touch of western). It is proof of how good that story was that, decades and multiple re-adaptations later (my favorite being Sergio Leone's 'A Fistful of Dollars'), the story still manages to be interesting and entertaining.The movie is well directed by Walter Hill, who manages to give it a very stylish yet desolate look. The cast is absolutely perfect, everyone looking and acting their roles to perfection; in special: the gang bosses, Christopher Walken as Doyle's right-hand man, Bruce Dern as the sheriff and William Sanderson as the bartender and Willis' helping hand. It is a very good action film, never boring, with very good dialogues and very stylish and entertaining action scenes which are made to be quite similar to the old Italian westerns' shoot-outs. Speaking of Italian Westerns, Bruce Willis does his best Clint Eastwood impersonation (he is, after all, playing the same role Eastwood did in Leone's film). He does the eye-squinting, often silent and very, very muffled whispering-talking with a good deal of success; however, he often comes across as too silent, being difficult to hear him sometimes (though that is really my only complaint regarding his performance). Christopher Walken too, though his character at least is given a reason for doing that.Unlike Gian Maria Volonté or Tatsuya Nakadai, Christopher Walken actually manages to upstage Bruce Willis' nameless protagonist when in scene together. Bruce Dern and Ned Eisenberg, likewise, steal the show in their scenes.

zardoz-13 International filmmakers have exerted great influence on American movies. When Hollywood runs out of fresh ideas, the major studios often turn to foreign films for inspiration. Sometimes, a filmmaker appears who can adapt a foreign film in such a revolutionary way that audiences sits up and pays attention. "Extreme Prejudice" writer & director Walter Hill manages this ambitious feat in his cinematic version of the 1961 Japanese samurai epic "Yojimbo" by the brilliant director Akira Kurosawa. Incidentally, "Yojimbo" translated means "bodyguard." In the 1950s and 1960s, Kurosawa emerged as one of the few Asian filmmakers who commanded the respect of American audiences. His films grew popular in the West. Moreover, Kurosawa translated profitably in westerns. His films have served as the basis for John Sturges' 1960 classic "The Magnificent Seven," Sergio Leone's landmark Spaghetti western "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964), and now Walter Hill's "Last Man Standing." Hill recycles the venerable Kurosawa tale as a Prohibition Era gangster saga, casting Bruce Willis as a tight-lipped soldier of fortune with two automatics and an attitude. The story contains all the subtlety of a hail of lead delivered at point blank range, and "Last Man Standing" erupts with the fury of an artillery barrage. The setting of Jericho, Texas, exists in a moral vacuum. The gangsters have sent all the good people packing and paid for the law as they have bought most of the women. Women decorate the periphery of "Last Man Standing' in minor roles as hostages, whores, and mistresses. These unhappy females are trapped in Jericho as male playthings and the consequences of defiance carry a high price as one girl learns. When John Smith (Bruce Willis of "Die Hard") wheels his Ford into the dusty, remote town of Jericho, he is searching for a quiet place to lay low before he vanishes into Mexico. What he encounters are two greedy Chicago bootlegging clans competing for supremacy over the illegal whiskey trade. Like Clint Eastwood in "A Fistful of Dollars," Smith smells money galore in "Last Man Standing" so he hires out his pistols to the highest bidders. Smith plays the Italians and the Irish skillfully against each other in a suspenseful game of cat and mouse. When he helps a young woman held hostage by the Irish, Smith finally pays for his interference. The Irish gang, headed by Doyle (Daniel Patrick Kelly), captures and stomps our protagonist until he resembles a bruised tomato. Somehow, Smith endures this horrible beating and gets away. Furiously, Doyle massacres the Italian leader, Strozzi (Ned Eisenberg), and his gang at a roadhouse where the Irish believe Smith has filed for protection. Instead, Smith holes up out of town in a church to recover his strength. Jericho's corrupt sheriff (Bruce Dern of "The Cowboys"), decides to help Smith out by loaning him two guns. Smith takes the hardware and challenges the Irish to a Wild West showdown. As his own scenarist, director Walter Hill has kept most of the original story intact. If you're looking for comparisons, you might find it easier to correlate "Last Man Standing" with "A Fistful of Dollars" rather than "Yojimbo." As the writer, Hill fumbles in making the evil, Tommy-gun toting Hickey (Christopher Walken of "The Anderson Tapes") a henchman rather than the boss, as the corresponding character was in "A Fistful of Dollars." He is the only match bullet-for-bullet with Smith. As Hickey, Christopher Walken adds another despicable villain to his cinematic gallery of rogues, playing second fiddle to Doyle. Hill generates minor suspense when lesser characters refer to Hickey's character and the hellishness that always follows in his wake."Last Man Standing" is a raw, hard-bitten, little, B-move shoot'em-up with A-class pretensions that pays homage to not only Kurosawa but also stylishly imitates the excessive violence from recent Hong Kong crime thrillers. If you want to compare it to one of Bruce's American thrillers, the Tony Scott directed bullet ballet "The Last Boy Scout" (1991) is the best example. Hill the writer doesn't waste time contriving an elaborate plot that hinges on small but crucial details. When characters are not performing tasks on-screen, they are deployed off-screen in plot related activities. This is one who where what the characters do off-screen is of integral importance to what others do on-screen. Compared with Clint Eastwood who played the Man with No Name in "A Fistful of Dollars," Bruce Willis here is the Man With Anybody's Name. As he reveals to the Italians, he is simply John Smith from back East. John Smith is a taciturn fellow. He doesn't make a big deal out of most things unless he finds his expertise challenged. If you're a Willis fan, "Last Man Standing" isn't Bruce as usual. He is neither "Die Hard" Detective John McClane nor is he David Addison from "Moonlighting." He is a man of few words and fewer wisecracks. Smith is an unrepentant hard-case who admits as much without remorse during his opening narration. Here Willis delineates the character of Smith more out of what is left unsaid rather than said.The film amounts to a genre mash-up: a period crime drama crossed with a western. In it, the Old West is a dying dream. The New West, suggests Hill, is being taken over by business suits from back East with hardware. Nevertheless, that Wild West justice might be out of sight but it's not entirely out of mind. Altogether, "Last Man Standing" qualifies as a loud, bloody shoot'em-up that shouldn't disappoint action fans.

loveagoodstory This film doesn't do much wrong except not really doing much right. The mood and feel of a small American western town in Prohibition is nicely put across, borrowing something from films like Eastwood's 'Unforgiven'. The acting is fine, particularly from the always-reliable Christopher Walken who once again lights up more of his role than is asked of him.But the story adaption is a little tired and Willis's "It was a dirty town but all towns were" voice-over feels dated rather than nostalgic. The bad guys are all a bit too thick to seem like adversaries so it feels like any successes of Willis's are inevitable. That makes it hard for the film to keep you wondering as the story appears to just play itself out.