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Last Man Down begins with a towering bearded man named John Wood, portrayed by Daniel Stisen (who you might know from Rise of the Footsoldier 3: The Siege). He’s bounded on the chair and is being interrogated by an even more towering man called Commander Stone, who is played by Daniel Nehme (Redirected, Hard Tide). Stone also has a gun pointing at Wood’s wife. Sadly, John has none of the answers to the questions Stone wants.
Fast forward three years, and John is now clouded off into the woods, deserting what’s left of the world and its pandemic. His solitude is disrupted when Maria, a released subject of a test, happens to find his cabin. And who has been sent to retrieve her? Do I really have to tell you it’s Commander Stone?
Last Man Down’s very first scenes can undeniably be categorized as an action packed 80s thriller. The corny scenario along with the physique of both of the leads take me back. It’s like Arnie staring down Vernon Wells in Commando, or Lundgren and Stallone in Rocky 4 all over again. And, after all the years of action movies with pretty boys such as Tom Cruise, it’s refreshing to see actors that appear as if they can beat you into a pulp appearing in a movie like this.
The first thirty minutes of Last Man Down consists of flashbacks. We slowly discover John’s history as well as his wife’s death and his consequent escape. He also appears to have the same virus immunity as Maria and was meant to be used for experiments before he escaped.
For a warm-up, we get to witness John and Maria take out a couple of Stone’s unaware men. As it turns out, John isn’t just some timberman, which is what he is referred to as. One of the most amusing parts was John killing a few of his enemies while taking a dump. Talk about unconventional! Like every great action hero, John has a few cheesy one-liners. When he shoots one of his enemies in the knee with a crossbow, he states “I don’t negotiate.” When asked by Maria if he has a plan to deal with Stone and his men, John pulls back a tarp to show off an arsenal of guns and deadpans, “I think we can hold them off until winter.”
By giving Maria a background that allows her character to be more than just a damsel in distress, Director Fansu Njie, and co-writers Daniel Stisen and Andreas Vasshaug made the right decision. She is tough, and she knows how to use weapons. It is also believable when trained soldiers catch her off guard. Last Man Down features two additional female fighters, Granite (Madeleine Vall, Wonder Woman) and Zahara (Natassia Malthe, Battles Drone, In the Name Of The King: Two Worlds), but their screen time is very limited.
Last Man Down tries its best to evoke feelings of classic action films, but unfortunately does not possess the budget for it. So we don’t get the great explosions, or the army of cardboard cutouts that Schwarzenegger faced in Commando. But there was enough money to pay stuntmen to make the gunfights and hand-to-hand scenes engaging. There was also enough money to ensure that most scenes have enough extras to serve as cannon fodder.
With the last half hour having more of one-on-one clashes than the last three Steven Segal films put together and two great fights, Stone does go hand-to-hand with him and also, this very large Dr. Feltspat (Stanislav Yanevski, Hostel II), who had the pleasure of dealing with the experiments along with him and Maria. Aside from one kick delivered by a random extra that looks speeded up, the fights seem to be free of gimmickry which is also nice.
On the negative side, Stisen and Nehme are, unfortunately, not very talented actors at all but thankfully, Last Man Down does not require much more than snarling and head breaking. Fingers crossed they will take some acting classes. I wonder if they will take such classes. Also, the ending is a little too open ended for a sequel. But because this has, in my opinion, one of the best DTV action films, I am definitely going to watch that sequel.
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