Last Man Standing

Year: 1996

Grade: C+

Country: USA

Director: Hill

Review

the worst thing about my watching this film is that it’s a remake of yojimbo. if it wasn’t for this fact then i would have enjoyed it more. but, as is, i couldn’t stop myself from constantly comparing it to the original work upon which it was based. this happened with fistful of dollars as well, but that one fared better. every single element of the original work is better than this version’s take on the same story. though willis is good, some of the visual feel is nice, and the score is good, it still is unable to hold a candle to yojimbo. i didn’t like the choice to use voice-over and have willis’ character retell the story, i didn’t think the characters were nearly as lively and interesting – not even walken could really reach the level of his counterpart’s character (played by tatsuya nakadai) from the kurosawa version. there were a few unintentionally comical moments which i could have done without, but they weren’t too bad or frequent. in an absolute sense the film is pretty decent, but when you compare it to a film that i consider one of the best 50 of all-time, then it starts to pale. the storytelling was less engaging, the action wasn’t as good, the characters were less well-drawn and the main character was less dynamic. however, watching this film does provide an interesting study of what makes a decent film great. if you watch what kurosawa did differently in his storytelling style, how the actors built their characters, how tension was built, etc. you get a quick study of the art of filmmaking.