Last Action Hero (1993)

So much average

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Anyone who loves classic, cheesy action movies from the 1980s and 1990s probably owns a copy of Last Action Hero, an absolutely darling spoof of the genre starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Younger kids might not like it very much, since they've grown up on a different type of action movie, but older millennials and Generation X will totally love it. In the movie, Austin O'Brien is a preteen who has recently lost his father. His mother, Mercedes Ruehl, wants him to spend less time at the movies and more time concentrating on his studies, but boys will be boys, and Austin sneaks out in the middle of the night to watch an advanced screening of the latest installment of his favorite action film franchise, similar to Die Hard. The owner of the movie theater, Robert Prosky, gives Austin a magical ticket, and before he knows what's happening, Austin gets transported into the movie! He gets to pal around with the main character Arnold Schwarzenegger, laugh at the cheesy puns, unrealistic fight scenes, gorgeous bimbos, and plot holes in the script. It's a laugh a minute, and Shane Black's and David Arnott's script hilariously pokes fun of the real actors as well as the genre as a whole. For example, Austin O'Brien tries to convince character-Arnold that he's just a character in a movie, and he actually tells him that an actor named Arnold Schwarzenegger plays him! Character-Arnold has never heard of actor-Arnold, so they go to a video store to rent one of his famous movies. Inside they see a cardboard cutout advertisement of Terminator 2, starring Sylvester Stallone! In the movie universe, actor-Arnold doesn't exist. When Austin meets F. Murray Abraham in the movie universe, he immediately recognizes him and tries to warn Arnold that he's the bad guy because he killed Mozart. Anthony Quinn, who spent a career playing not very intelligent ethnic characters, plays the quintessential Italian mob boss, who always mixes his metaphors-a fourth wheel, in front of the eight-ball, etc.-much to the irritation of his evil cohort, Charles Dance. If by some miracle you lived through the 80s and 90s and haven't seen Last Action Hero, buy yourself a copy-I did it the old school way and bought a VHS-and get ready for a total laugh fest.

I really don't understand why this movie gets so much flack, it's really a great idea and fun critique of Hollywood movies. Maybe it was too ahead of its time and maybe it still is, but I enjoyed it a lot. Arnold Schwarzenegger was extremely brave and humble to joke about himself and the movies he tends to be in, just a testament to someone who appreciates all they have. All the cameos and film references are some great touches and I love the cheesy over the top sequences and dialogue. I think the overall message is good; while Hollywood isn't an accurate representation of the world, it's still an important part of our culture and a way for us to see life as we wish it was.

This film was not the blockbuster that it was expected to be upon it's initial release and was pretty derided when it first came out, but I think it's one that deserves reconsideration. The story is essentially Woody Allen's "The Purple Rose of Cairo" but with a 1980s action film hero stepping off the screen into the real world instead of a 1930s romantic leading man stepping off the screen. Both films feature a many funny moments of fictional characters having to deal the the real world and also funny moments of real world characters entering the movie world, enjoying the artifice of those fantasy worlds. The difference in how these two films go about this is that Allen's film was making keen observations about why people are drawn to fantasy worlds over reality, while "Last Action Hero" is comedic primarily a send up of 80s action film tropes. Although this film is nowhere as smart or insightful as Allen's classic film, it's a really funny film and does make some clever observations about action film formulas. What really makes this film work is the inclusion of so many action film heavy weights both in front of the camera (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and also behind the camera (director John McTiernan and co-writer Shane Black). The film is both a celebration of what audiences love about action films, but at the same time gleefully mocks them. I do think Sylvester Stallone's "Demolition Man" did a better job of satirizing 1980s action heroes by placing a stereotypical action hero into a peaceful futuristic utopia. This same year also saw the release of "Romeo is Bleeding" which was not exactly a send up of action films, but was more of an indie black comic send up of noir, which i suppose is pretty different from those other two, but I thought was worth mentioning. Overall, this film is not the throwaway over-marketed junk that I think it was perceived as upon it's initial release and is absolutely worth watching for audiences who want to laugh at 80s action film clichés. The film also features F. Murray Abraham, Art Carney, Charles Dance, Frank McRae, Tom Noonan, Robert Prosky, Anthony Quinn, Mercedes Ruehl, and cameos by Franco Columbu, Tina Turner, Sharon Stone, Robert Patrick, Angie Everhart, Maria Shriver, Little Richard, James Belushi, Damon Wayans, Chevy Chase, Timothy Dalton, Jean-Claude Van Damme, MC Hammer, and many other familiar faces.

Continuing my plan to watch every Arnie movie in order, I come to his 1993 flick Last Action Hero. Plot In A Paragraph: With the help of a magic ticket, a young film fan is transported into the fictional world of his favorite action film character.Both Arnie and director John McTeirnan were riding high when they teamed up for what Arnie promised would be "The biggest movie of the summer" sadly it didn't deliver, and whilst people liked it, nobody really loved it, and all anybody remembers is it tanked/under performed and Jurassic Park killed it. Which for me is more than a bit unfair, as I do enjoy it. I don't rewatch it often, but when I do, I enjoy it for what it is.I think a lot of people miss the joke with this, in that, it is intended as a spoof!! I know I'll be in the minority, in liking it!! For me it's simply fun. I love all the little movie references. It may not be Arnie or McTiernan's finest work, but it is amusing if you get the humour. The jokes and cameos are OK, and Arnie'self-parody is just great. Truthfully not all of the jokes work, but over all it's enjoyable, Last Action Hero grossed $50 million at the domestic Box Office to end the year the 26th highest grossing movie of 1993. Whilst a massive disappoint following T2, in his autobiography Total Recall, Arnie says it wasn't a flop, and actually made money!! Just not as much as anticipated.