Summary
While one ofArnold Schwarzenegger’s biggest action movies should have been a hit, the famous flopLast Action Heroinstead underperformed even though it was secretly great. Notall of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s comedy movieswork. The actor has some great comedic timing, but the basic premise of a big brawny action hero showing up where he’s not expected isn’t always enough to carry an entire movie. For everyTwins, there is aJunior, and for every hit likeKindergarten Cop, there is a miss like 2017’sKilling Gunther. Despite this, I wish the screen veteran’s most overlooked comedy was better received.
WhileArnold Schwarzenegger’s many action heroesrun the gamut from friendly to terrifying, they almost all have one thing in common. Few of the actor’s most famous roles see him flex his self-aware sense of humor as much as his muscles. FromThe Terminatorto theConan the Barbarianmovies, many of Schwarzenegger’s most loved roles see him at his most dour. Even the likes ofCommandoandRed Heat, which are a little lighter, mostly limit Schwarzenegger’s comedic moments to stiff one-liners. One underrated Schwarzenegger vehicle attempted to subvert his screen image, but critics didn’t share my love for it.
Last Action Hero Cast Now: What They Look Like & Biggest Movies Since
Last Action Hero is a meta action-comedy from 1993, and here’s what the cast looks like now and their biggest projects in the years since.
Last Action Hero Is A Massively Underrated Entry In Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Movie Career
Shane Black’s Self-Aware Action Comedy Should Have Been Huge
1993’sLast Action Herois an ingenious self-parodic action movieabout a movie-obsessed kid whose magic movie ticket transports him into the universe of Schwarzenegger’s latest blockbuster. Schwarzenegger pulls double duty, playing both himself and Jack Slater, the fictional detective/action hero who ends up being brought into the real world. Despite boasting the combined talents ofDie Harddirector John McTiernanandLethal Weaponscreenwriter Shane Black,Last Action Herowas a flop upon release. Critics hated its self-aware sense of humor and the blockbuster earned only $137 million on a budget of $85 million, which is a shame.
I always lovedLast Action Herosince its comedy elements work surprisingly well. The satire of the movie business is broad and silly, Schwarzenegger’s comedic performance is game, and the script cleverly flips the familiar tropes and clichés viewers have come to expect from the action genre. Not only wasLast Action Heroan effective skewering of the action movies of the ‘80s, but the movie also predicted the sense of humor that would come to define blockbuster movies in the decades that followed. Unfortunately,Last Action Hero’s financial failure meant it never received credit for its delayed cultural impact.
Why Last Action Hero Wasn’t More Successful Upon Release
Last Action Hero’s Meta Humor Arrived A Few Decades Too Soon
The playful meta jokes of theDeadpoolmovies and campy excesses of theFast & Furiousfranchise both owe a creative debt toLast Action Hero. WhileStallone and Schwarzenegger’s box-office rivalrycan sometimes color their cultural influence,Last Action Heroproves the latter star was interested in stranger, more offbeat projects than some critics claimed. I always loved the surreal sense of humor that drivesLast Action Hero’s self-referential plot, but it was this same irreverence that held the movie back from mainstream acclaim. Now, theArnold SchwarzeneggervehicleLast Action Heroseems outright prescient thanks to this writing style’s popularity.
