Last Action Hero (1993) - Review

Director: John McTiernan

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Noonan, Charles Dance, Austin O'Brien, Robert Prosky

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 131 min

Last Action Hero is a fun meta action parody from the early 90s when Arnold Schwarzenegger was the biggest movie star on the planet and the action genre ruled. At the time of the film's release, Schwarzenegger was at the top of his game, haven just come off of the hugely successful Total Recall and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Therefore, it probably made sense to put the King of Action into a parody of the entire genre tailor made around his image and iconography.

Unfortunately, Last Action Hero suffers from a particularly uneven script, as the film struggles to balance both its comedic and dramatic elements. Toss in the fact that the film is directed by action maestro John McTiernan (Die Hard, Predator) and co-written by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout), and you have an odd misfire of a film that should have been a hit based on the talent in front and behind the camera. Regardless, Last Action Hero is a fascinating piece of action history, sort of the pre-Scream for the action genre, but nowhere near as good as Scream per say.

This fortunately was not the "last" action film for our hero.

Danny Madigan (Austin O' Brien) is a young kid obsessed with action movies, especially the Jack Slater film series starring Arnold Schwarznegger. When he gets the chance to pre-screen "Jack Slater IV," his projector friend Nick (Robert Prosky) tells him that he cannot enter the movie without a ticket. He hands him a golden ticket that the magician Houdini gave him years ago and tells him that it can transport him wherever he wishes it too. However, Danny finds out that the ticket is more than just a regular ticket when it literally transports him inside of "Jack Slater IV." Using the information that he obtained from watching the first scenes of the film, Danny helps Slater solve the mystery inside of his own film and points out the cliches and such of the action genre along the way. Things are complicated when Benedict (Charles Dance), the film within the film's main villain, gets ahold of Danny's ticket and decides to transport to the real world.

While Last Action Hero may be fun and games from beginning to end, you couldn't pay me to care about any of these characters. I am sorry, but I don't understand how I am supposed to care about a group of characters whom inhabit a cliche-ridden parody all about pointing out cliches. The "Jack Slater IV" movie world is just a joke and not meant to be taken seriously. Therefore, viewers will not be able to take any of the characters that inhabit said world seriously because the world and its rules are so bonkers in the first place (i.e. a cartoon cat can show up and save the day, Robert Patrick's T-1000 shows up for no reason, etc). Another big issue with the film is that it gets strangely serious in its final half, especially once Slater realizes that he is a fictitious character played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The problem with introducing depth and drama to a parody in its final half is that it clashes with all of the silly comedy and action packed antics that preceded it. Therefore, viewers will feel confused and betrayed by the otherwise fun film's rather abrupt turn into multi-layered character work.

The film also struggles to balance its focus between Slater and Danny, the true protagonist of the film. Even though Danny helps Slater realize that he is a movie character and that he should take command of his life and not go with the cliches, Danny himself learns nothing. As I watched the film, I thought that Danny would come to realize something wrong about his movie obsessed ways. But alas, Danny simply goes on an adventure and learns absolutely nothing. His entire journey proves to be pointless and all the more frustrating because of this. This film desperately needed an arc for the kid to experience and to base everything around. All of these character issues, as well as the film's clashing tones, are to blame on the film's rather uneven script, or at least the drama that went on behind the scenes.

Arguably the best joke in the movie.

The script was originally penned by Zak Penn and Adam Leff and meant as a parody of action films, typically the ones written by the likes of Shane Black (Lethal Weapon) and Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard). However, Black himself was eventually brought in to rewrite the film, and given credit for the script while its previous writers were bumped down to story credit. When Arnold himself demanded that his character be written as more of a three dimensional character, Last Action Hero slowly but surely signed its death certificate. Penn and Leff's original idea for the film was to tell a story where a movie obsessed 15 year old boy helps a two dimensional movie star survive the movie world. It was meant to be an action parody and nothing more. Black and Arnold on the other hand wanted to add more dramatic depth to the film, thereby drifting the film more towards the typical action films that Black and Arnold had made and less like the action parody that the script originally envisioned. Therefore, these creative decisions ultimately resulted in a film that could not realize its identity, thereby creating an odd rift between comedy and drama. 

An action parody cannot be goofy, silly, and meta, but also attempt to be dramatic, compelling, and dark. The two disparate tones do not mix, as most evident in the film's rather dark and serious final act. Another reason this blend of tones does not work is because the film stars a 12 year old boy and is rated PG-13. It's clear that these decisions were made to prime the film for a wider audience, mainly kids who were watching R rated action films that they should not have been watching in the first place. However, by putting a child front and center to all of this action and violence, Last Action Hero forgets its parody roots and drifts into the action/drama realm all too often. Therefore, you have a film that tries to be a bad ass action film directed by McTiernan, but also one that has to fulfill its comedic elements and be a whimsical fantasy film from the early 90s at the same time. All of these separate tones and goals simply do not mix into a worthwhile product, or at least one that the viewer is supposed to care about.

Despite all of its flaws, Last Action Hero is a blast of a 90s blockbuster courtesy of McTiernan's eye for great action, its fantastical plot (even though it doesn't make much sense), and meta analysis of the action genre and its biggest star. It's sort of Scream for the action genre, but without characters to care for or an intriguing mystery to hang its meta-analysis upon. It's more of a children's fantasy than anything else, especially when you consider the film's rating and youthful protagonist.

Hey, it's Al Leong! The kids will get that cameo alright.

The fun in watching Last Action Hero comes in the form of recognizing the cliches that Danny spots. He points out that characters can't say the "f" word in a PG-13 movie, that sequels always get harder for the hero, that scenes change easily because of movie set placement, and that Arnold always says, "I'll be back," in his movies, as it is sort of his calling card. It may be silly and extremely dated for a character to point out these things as they experience them, but it is part of the fun of watching the film, especially one that was made in the early 90s.

For a comedy, Last Action Hero sports two extremely vicious and menacing performances by Charles Dance (Alien 3) and Tom Noonan (Manhunter) as the film's dual villains. Dance plays a ruthless gangster who can change out one of his glass eyeballs because...why not, it looks cool. Dance exudes extreme malice during his real world scenes, especially when he murders innocent people off screen. Noonan plays an extremely creepy villain entitled the Ripper, a raincoat wearing slasher with an axe to boot. Noonan's character is dressed up in so much makeup that he might as well be a zombie or a monster. He looks absolutely ridiculous and extremely terrifying at the same time. Noonan, well known for his creepy characters, dives into the character and sends chills down the viewer's spine. It seems that McTiernan probably forgot to tell Dance and Noonan that they were in a children's comedy. Regardless, their performances result in arguably the film's most memorable characters and moments.

Although rated PG-13, Last Action Hero is still a fairly violent action film with lots of creative kills and even a little sneaky foul language courtesy of a fast talking Lieutenant. Therefore, action fans won't feel cheated by the film's tamer rating. After all, a PG-13 rated film from 1993 is far more violent than a PG-13 rated film today. 

This guy will give you nightmares.

Most of the film's kills are either bloodless, particularly jokey, or creative. For example, in order to take out a room of henchmen in one scene, Arnold stabs a dead guy with an electrical wire to make him fire his gun into other guys. Although bad ass, the kill is jokey and lighthearted. Many of the film's on screen kills, like that one, are comically exaggerated in order to lessen their violent impact. Whenever people get shot, it typically occurs off screen or causes them to fly back several feet, thereby diminishing their impact. However, a majority of the film's death are due to explosions, as explosions are never violent and always deemed suitable for PG and PG-13 affair. Notable character actor Al Leong dies during the film's first big action scene when an ice cream truck explodes and sends a cone into the back of his head, thereby killing him. Even though Leong died, his death was comically exaggerated so as to lessen its killing blow. If the viewer can handle such mild violence, than Last Action Hero is a blast of a film to watch. Just set your action sights low, turn off your brain, and have a good time.

Despite its mild violence, Last Action Hero still contains several fun and exciting action sequences. The film peaks in its first set piece when Danny transports into "Jack Slater IV" and finds himself inside of Slater's car during a shootout. This fun action scene contains some impressive vehicular stunt work, memorable one liners, and AC/DC's "Big Gun." The set piece ends on a flat out hilarious moment in which a henchmen's car flies through the air in the background of a shot and explodes upon hitting the ground. It's bad ass and funny at the same time.

The film also sports a comical but impressive set piece at a gangster's funeral in which Slater and Danny must stop a dead gangster from seeping toxic gas into the air. McTiernan pulls out all of the stops here, especially during an impressive shot in which a stuntman swings off of an elevator on the side of a building. The climactic finale at the "Jack Slater IV" premiere is unfortunately devoid of tension or excitement despite is long run time and mass amount of celebrity cameos. 

Before I leave this film to the archives of my blog's site, I thought that I would point out some rather ridiculous plot holes that stick out like a sore thumb. For starters, the entire film's conceit doesn't make much sense. Nick tells Danny that Houdini gave him a ticket long ago that can transport you anywhere you wish. When Danny watches "Jack Slater IV," he sees an animated stick of dynamite fly into the theater. When he runs away from the exploding dynamite, he wakes up inside of the movie. What gives, how does a stick of dynamite transport into the real world? When they come back to the theater at the end of the movie, the dynamite did no damage. Another ridiculous moment includes the appearance of The Seventh Seal's Death, played by Ian McKellen. After Death shows up to "help" Danny for no good reason, he simply walks away, free to roam the streets. Guys, Death is on the loose! How can you leave such a plot thread hanging!? And while we're at it, how about that home invader who breaks into Danny's home, threatens him, and than leaves him alone. What was the point of that scene? It's absolutely terrifying and horribly realistic, and yet it found a way into a children's comedy? I don't know what went on in the editing room of this film.

Slater and his trusty Deagle.

Although Last Action Hero is deemed a flop by box office and critical standards, it's still an entertaining time at the movies. The film is an immensely nostalgic picture that 90s kids will probably have a blast revisiting or watching for the first time like myself. It's just a shame that the filmmakers couldn't decided upon an identity for the film upon its inception. Fortunately, this type of meta-genre picture would be perfected by Wes Craven a few years later in 1996's Scream, a fun and tense horror film that still found a way to comment on its genre and not appear overtly showy. Regardless, Last Action Hero is a commendable yet failed effort at meta-analysis, courtesy of the early 90s.

Rating: 6/10 - An immensely flawed, although highly entertaining, 90s action blockbuster that is purely for action fans like myself, or those with a taste for flawed but whimsical children's films.