Finding the proper balance between various formula ingredients is the essential task for any film maker. If balance isn’t right, even films with greatest stars, talented names behind camera, high budget and intriguing premise can underperform. One such example can be found in Last Action Hero, 1993 action comedy directed by John McTiernan, which is often considered as one of biggest Hollywood disappointments of its time.
Protagonist, played by Austin O’Brien, is Danny Madigan, 10-year old boy who lives in New York City with his widowed mother Irene (played by Mercedes Ruehl). Lacking father and friends, he finds escape from depressing monotony of real life in action films, especially his favourite series about LAPD detective Jack Slater (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger). He hangs out in local theatre where friendly old projectionist Nick (played by Robert Prosky) allows him to watch advance copy of Jack Slater IV and even gives him magic ticket which is rumoured to allow people to visit different world. While watching the film Danny gets transported into the film, right in the scene featuring Slater in his car being chased by multitudes of villains. It takes some time for Danny to get the grasp of situation and even more for Slater to start accepting Danny’s claims that he is a fictional character. In the meantime, Slater appreciates Danny’s knowledge of film’s plot which could help him fight evil mobster Tony Vivaldi (played by Anthony Quinn) and his sinister henchman Benedict (played by Charles Dance). When Benedict gets in possession of magic ticket and escapes into real world, Slater and Danny must follow him in order to prevent mayhem a supervillain might create on the streets of New York City.
Last Action Hero was one of the most anticipated films of its time. With impressive budget of almost 85 million US$, it had Arnold Schwarzenegger, action genre icon at the zenith of his popularity, as the main star and it was supposed to be action spectacle of the exact kind that brought Schwarzenegger stardom and box office triumphs. It was also directed by John McTiernan, director who had earned the status of action genre grandmaster with classics like Predator and Die Hard, the former starring Schwarzenegger. It was all followed by massive hype, which in the end, proved counter-productive. That and couple of questionable decisions by the studio, most notably release date that pitted Last Action Hero against Spielberg’s mega-popular Jurassic Park, led to disappointing box office results and reviews that were, at best, lukewarm. The film earned reputation of the flop, although it later had more than decent results at home video and even gained many fans that continue to describe it as misunderstood masterpiece.
Like many films that created such sharply divided opinion, the truth can be found somewhere in middle. Last Action Hero is much better film than its reputation, but it is definitely far from the classic his fans claim to be. Premise, which isn’t exactly too original, and which was well-employed by Woody Allen in The Purple Rose of Cairo eight years earlier, had huge potential for comedy, especially in the scenes when Danny and Slater find themselves as “fish out of water” in each other worlds. On the other hand, Schwarzenegger, who was executive producer, tried a little bit too hard to deliver bombastic macho action to his die hard fans, while at the same time consciously spoofing such films and his action star image. The balance between action and comedy wasn’t properly established. This is most evident in the first part of the film, which takes place in fictionalised Los Angeles and features over-the-top bombastic action with spectacular chases, plenty of gunfire, explosions, hand-to-hand combat and cheesy one-liners. Those scenes are deliberately directed by John McTiernan in unrealistic fashion and Danny’s commentary looks like Mystery Science Theatre 3000 treatment. Comedy in that segment is somewhat better, especially in scenes where Danny tries to convince Slater that he lives in fictional universe (like pointing at his apparent invulnerability, all phone numbers starting with 555 or all women looking like supermodels). When Slater and Danny come to real world, in dark and depressive pre-Giuliani New York, film gets much darker and humour can be provided only by brilliant scene of Jack Slater IV gala premiere during which Schwarzenegger plays himself and encounters Slater’s character. Script tries to give some fan service to hardcore cinephiles, by references to black-and-white classics like Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet (leading to hillarious fantasy scene where Schwarzenegger plays Danish prince as action hero) or Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal (which leads to much weaker scene featuring Ian McKellen as Death).
Lack of balance between action and comedy can be attributed to Schwarzenegger’s idea of Last Action Hero as some sort of reply to critics that accused his 1980s hits of promoting violence. This film was designed as gentler, kinder specimen of the genre, with more family-friendly PG-13 rating (which is actually referenced on the screen) and more in tune with less masculine mores of Clinton’s America. Ironically, Last Action Hero features Schwarzenegger in what could arguably be told as one of the most complex and more effective roles of his career, in which he consciously deconstructs his iconic image while showing incredible talent for comedy. Austin O’Brien as the nominal protagonist is quite good, with McTiernan’s direction helping avoid his character becoming irritating, which was often the case with child actors in other films. The rest of very diverse cast, which included many celebrity cameos, is dominated by Charles Dance, British actor who marvelled at the opportunity to play charismatic and at times self-conscious villain. Cinematography by Dean Semler was great, especially in the scenes that features sunny Los Angeles in bright colours, while music score by Michael Kamen often got drowned by overuse of hard rock songs.
Although a little bit overlong, Last Action Hero is mostly entertaining film that should be recommended to the fans of 1980s and 1990s action genre. For Schwarzenegger’s fans this film can be bittersweet, since its flop marked the beginning of downward trajectory in his acting career. Although his next project True Lies proved that he could successfully spoof his action film persona, he never repeated triumphs like those that preceded Last Action Hero.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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