The fact that this new sixty-second spot for THE LAST STAND reuses many of the same action beats seen in past trailers indicates one of two things to my cynical mind: either we’re being flooded with footage from all of the best beats in the hopes of getting audiences into cinemas, or we’re being shown just enough to get us excited while most of the best stuff is actually being kept close to the vest. I’m sure we all agree that the latter would be vastly preferable.
That being said, I’m enjoying the humor and the prospect of more Arnold quips. Few stars deliver them in the way he does – with just the right hint of mischief – and they should work nicely to break up the intensity and gravitas of the wild situation the residents of this small border town find themselves in.
You can join Arnold in THE LAST STAND on January 18th.
And from the other side of the pond we have James McAvoy and Mark Strong in the crime thriller WELCOME TO THE PUNCH. The original script scored third place on 2010’s Brit List (the British version of Hollywood’s Black List), and tells the story of “a former criminal, Jacob Sternwood (Strong) who is forced to return to London from his Icelandic hideaway when his son is involved in a heist gone wrong. This gives detective Max Lewinsky (McAvoy) one last chance to catch the man he has always been after. As they face off, they start to uncover a deeper conspiracy they both need to solve in order to survive.”
Sounds suitably crime thriller-y, but the strong casting of Strong and McAvoy should elevate any pedestrian storytelling going on (if there even is any – I’m definitely intrigud by this hint at a greater conspiracy). Not to mention how, for a writer/director relatively new to the industry, the visual side of the film looks strong as can be.
WELCOME TO THE PUNCH hopes to welcome your money into its coffers sometime on March 15th.