O Último Detetive

Jeff Wincott has for me at least, always stood out somewhat from the plethora of movie action stars of the late eighties and nineties such as, Van Damme, Seagal, Grunier, Wilson, Lundgren etc etc. on the very simple account that Wincott is actually a rather good actor when the material allows. Unfortunately, this film doesn't allow Wincott to flex his acting muscles however.....Oh dear I hear you cry. Bad news then? Well luckily, not really, as the action happens to more than make up for it. Yes, here we have a plot and character thin effort which despite said flaws nonetheless balances the scales with sheer entertainment value. It has to be said that the action sequences are very well staged throughout including multiple shootouts, some Michael Bay style freeway chases and of course, capitalising on Wincott's martial arts expertise, a few decent fight scenes to. As B-movies go, this is very much a high end production; Well worth checking out me recommends.

Jeff Wincott stars as a cop (Who smokes a lot) who takes on mobsters after the death of his partner (Jonathan Banks) however after becoming the target of said mobsters he decides to show why he will be the last man standing, especially when the man in this equation is martial arts expert Jeff Wincott. Jillian McWirter is Wincott's wife who goes on the lam with our hero. Last Man Standing (No relation to the Walter Hill/Bruce Willis dud) is one of those movies that is akin to playing Grand Theft Auto III (I'm out of date on video games) it comes from the film-making equivalent of "Who cares, if there is a plot, i'm just going to shoot random people!" of course the story is fairly well written, the action quite spectacular and basically it is everything you could want in a low budget action flick. Plus Wincott makes for an interesting hero, in that his unattractive face adds a grittiness that is instantly likable and believable. In fact I may check out The Killing Man next week at my rental shop. Also thank goodness for bargain bin DVDs that give the world fun-dumb actioners for a cheap price.

* * * out of 4-(Good)

This movie features the excellent work of a too under-rated actor and martial artist, Jeff Wincott. The cast of supporting actors is top-notch and he and the sexy Jillian McWhirter sizzle together. The action is non-stop and the special effects have you at the edge of your seat from start to finish. Wincott's character is a very cool cop who doesn't do things exactly by the book and always gets called on it, though he gets the job done. He then discovers that his jerk sargeant and the rest are all crooked. When they find out he knows, he and his wife must go on the run and get to the bottom of it before they end up like his partner...dead!! While the plot is not the most original, Jeff Wincott plays out his character is stunning flair and style. What guy wouldn't want to be Officer Kurt Bellmore? This movie is a must-see and Wincott deserves far more accolades than he gets.

Years ago the word was 'Last Man Standing' was Jeff Wincott's best effort from PM Entertainment. So now that I've seen it, I understand why. What they did very well is on full display here. Great stunt work, multiple fireball explosions and decent car chases. Only downside? Story is an absolute test pattern. Two parts cliche and one part very predictable.

LA Detectives Kurt Bellmore (Wincott) and veteran partner 'Doc' Kane (Jonathan Banks) stumble onto criminal Snake Underwood (Jonathan Fuller) completing his latest deal. When he makes bail easy and some of the evidence disappears, Snake goes onto commit more bank robberies and the picture of dirty cops being involved starts to emerge. Then Kurt gets suspended and his bank exec wife Anabella (Jillian McWhirter) is involved.

The faces in the cast certainly earns it some points. Wincott gets to juggle guns and fisticuffs while Fuller goes full ham with the villain. Michael Greene (Eve of Destruction, To Live and Die in LA) plays a police captain while Robert LaSardo and ex-Playboy Playmate Ava Fabian play central heavies. It sucks Banks doesn't have a bigger part or more to do, but he delivers nicely given his small role. McWhirter getting in on the action - firing off guns, taking out baddies, saving her husband - is a nice change of pace from the stock female role usually found in these pics.

It's hard to hate on 'Last Man Standing' as a b-movie fan or action junkie because what it does so partially offsets the weak storyline. There's even some gratuitous female nudity here via a trip to a strip club. Too bad the dialog and musical score in addition to the plot are such howlers. If you like 90's dtv cheese, PM or enjoy Jeff Wincott it's still worth a view though.

I'm sure that the creators of this movie were going for many things; Believability was not one of them. Our hero Kurt (Punch Rock Groin) opens the flick by chasing a bad guy thru a hotel. Along the way he jumps a 20ft staircase and chases the guy thru 5 or 6 plate glass windows coming up without a scratch. Even more believable is this guy's marriage to his wife whom he evidently knows nothing about, demonstrated by his surprise at her ability to use a gun. As villains chase them with guns and bomb empty barns, she stays true to the 2dimentional stereotype that she is and "Stands by her man".

The movie also somehow leaves out or ignores several details about police procedure. Mainly that a cop should identify himself as a police officer and warn suspects to comply before kicking there A**. Or, that after a police officer is suspended, commandeering a civilian vehicle is known as GRAND THEFT AUTO, which our hero commits twice in this film. I mean Heck! Joe Don Baker's "Mitchell" follows police procedure more than this guy does.

Overall it seems that the filmmakers must have bought a book on how to make the most cliché, over the top action movie possible and followed it line-by-line, complete with the poser outfits and bad dialogue. My favorite part of the movie was when the big boss bad guy Underwood refers to himself as "The Swashbuckler".

Chuck Norris watch out, your days as the king of Cheese ball action movies are numbered!