I would never have watched this if it wasn’t on Netflix.
I can’t take Schwarzenegger seriously. I don’t know if he ever was a serious figure. He’s easier to take seriously in comedic roles. But even when I watched Pumping Iron, he’s a caricature. In this, he’s actually a caricature of a caricature.
The story is actually a fairly promising action premise, and it’s a logical continuation of modern action movie trends, rolled together with a few older cliches. First, the villain is a drug lord. I know it’s hard to come up with villains with reasonable motivations, but drug lords are played out. Second, there’s the conflict between the small-town sheriff and the FBI. What if there was an action movie where they worked together? Where they pooled their resources effectively? At least with this movie, the FBI doesn’t come across as completely ineffective. They get one good arrest in.
This movie is the logical extension of the Fast & Furious franchise. We get a certain amount of frantic, souped-up cars driving around, ramming stuff, etc. But we also get a vaguely western small-town showdown, but with lots more firepower and explosions.
Schwarzenegger looks tired. This is probably appropriate, but he actually looks a little more sad than usual. I found myself wondering what the movie would be like if it were filmed with a different cast… and with a different director.
The direction is usually decent. There are some sequences that should have been really fantastic, but something about the approach to direction made them feel kind of dull. In particular, there’s a bit where the villain turns his car around, and forces another vehicle to flip over him. This should have been incredible. The way it’s directed, it’s actually kind of dull.
The script has something fun about it. There are portions of it that feel almost like a satire of action movies. Then there are other plot lines wedged in that feel like the result of studio interference. The romance? Who cares? It’s a distraction, and it doesn’t seem to accomplish anything.
The weirdest problem is that the big showdown at the end is nearly entirely anticlimactic. It turns into a fist and knife fight for no reason. And it’s not an exciting one, either.
Isn’t it strange that Schwarzenegger is at his most imposing and impressive when he’s holding a gun, and not when he’s in a fistfight?
One little thing that bugs me. The villain drives his car at around 200 MPH for a pretty long time. It seems like he would have to refuel occasionally.
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