The Last Stand (2013) * * *

Directed by:  Kim Jee-Woon

Starring:  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Forest Whitaker, Eduardo Noriega, Peter Stormare, Johnny Knoxville, Luis Guzman

Even though Schwarzenegger is close to 70, he can still carry an action film.     The Last Stand gives us an older, wiser Arnold who can still shoot things and kick ass when necessary.    In this film, both are very, very necessary.      Most action films lately have become mindless shoot-'em-ups with nothing or no one to care about.     The Last Stand involved me, mostly because of the appeal of an undermanned small-town sherriff's office taking on a drug dealer who is backed up by weapons, inexhaustible resources, and an army.

The Last Stand opens in the small Arizona town of Sommerton Junction.    Ray Owens (Schwarzenegger) is the sheriff, a former LAPD detective who prefers the peace and quiet of his town.     Most of the town is away because they were being bused to "the big game", which provides a valid reason why the town is mostly empty when the climactic showdown occurs.      As Ray is enjoying a rare day off, he notices truckers in the town diner who appear shady.    Since the trucker is played by Peter Stormare, who has played villains in movies like Fargo, Ray has good reason to be suspicious.     They are hauling something, all right, and they murder a local farmer in order to gain access to his cornfield.     

Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, the FBI unit led by Agent John Barrister (Whitaker) is transporting a federal prisoner who is "the most vicious drug dealer since Pablo Escobar".    Transporting prisoners has become hazardous in recent movies and this is no exception.    The drug dealer, a vicious creep named Cortez (Noriega), escapes and flees Vegas in a sports car that can whiz down the highway at speeds nearing 200 mph.     He takes one of the FBI agents hostage as insurance so he can race towards the Mexican border nearly unmolested, although he has an army to back him up in case of trouble.

Owens and his ragtag deputies, led by the invaluable Luis Guzman, are put on high alert that Cortez will attempt to cross into Mexico through their town.      The truckers are using the dead farmer's property to build a makeshift bridge which will allow Cortez to cross a small canyon into Mexico.    The FBI is unable to provide timely assistance and a SWAT team stationed at another checkpoint won't be able to assist either, so it's up to the sheriff and his deputies to stop Cortez.  

The action is undercut with sly humor.     Schwarzenegger remains an imposing action star who is large and in charge, although there are some amusing scenes where he realizes he can't do the stuff he used to years ago.     I laughed during a scene where Ray asks the local diner patrons to leave because of the impending battle, but they refuse because the omelets are simply too good.     Guzman and Knoxville are likable goofs who know how to handle themselves when the time comes.     Oscar-winner Whitaker swears and barks orders with the best of them while his nemesis Cortez sports a goatee (dead giveaway that he's a villain) and exudes the arrogance of a powerful man who feels invulnerable.   

The Last Stand entertained and made me care.    Sure, it's goofy and unlikely, but I'll be damned if it isn't fun.