Last Action Hero was better than I remembered it!

I think this movie tanked when it originally came out, but I thought it was quite good fun, and had some really good writing. The concept was cool- something along the lines of a Who Framed Roger Rabbit meets Inception (sorry if that’s a terrible analogy).

I particularly enjoyed how much fun they made of the genre, with Arnold driving completely insane the whole film as Jack Slater, shooting bad guys in public without concern for citizens, and then the whole “cop who doesn’t play by the rules” with a sergeant who’s cusses were hilarious! Seriously, watch this movie with subtitles on to catch what he’s saying, and it’s great!

Is the plot fairly derivative otherwise? Of course, but that’s kind of the fun, too- it’s a part 4 of an action movie (within a movie), and then the “reality” parts are solid as well. You get cameos from some of his previous co-stars (Danny DeVito as Whiskers, Jim Belushi as himself), plus Arnold as himself having a funny back and forth with Maria S. about Planet Hollywood.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the kid in this one, but not for any reason I could put my finger on. He did a good enough job, but I guess I imagined someone else perhaps filling that role a bit differently.

I don’t know why this movie was ripped apart as much as it was when it first came out. Maybe expectations were high, but I think it’s one of the more cerebral comedies that Arnold made, and his ability to poke fun at some of the characters that basically made him a star was fun to see.

I would give it 3/5 or maybe 3.5/5.

Submitted June 28, 2023 at 11:23AM by pnkflyd99 https://ift.tt/s5ASt7l