Review: Last Action Hero

Last Action Hero (1993) ***
Director: John McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October)
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, F. Murray Abraham, Austin O'Brien

Every now and then a movie comes along that critics love to hate, comedians love to make fun of, and then everyone else jumps on the bandwagon -- most of them never even having seen the movie and yet they still criticize and mock it. This is one of those movies. (The flak this movie has taken for being awesomely bad is legendary.) But I decided to buck the trend and actually watch it. I expected it to suck, so when I realized immediately that it was an action movie spoof, it became a lot more entertaining. In this film, life goes beyond imitating art to outright mocking it with Ah-nold spoofing himself and the movie genre that made him famous. Most Hollywood actors take their work far too seriously to be involved in a satire like this. I, for one, am glad Ah-nold accepted the challenge. Granted, it's cheesy and campy, but that's what it's meant to be. It shouldn't be taken seriously. Give this one a chance -- it's really not half as horrible as it's made out to be.