Last Sentinel, The (2007)

Writer-director Jesse Johnson’s second feature film, a near future sci-fi actioner, starts off looking promising. Whether intentional or not, veteran B-movie martial arts star Don Wilson is cast in the mold of Solid Snake, lead character from the popular “Metal Gear Solid” video game series, particularly the forthcoming “Guns of the Patriots” entry for PS3. He’s a weathered super soldier possessing superior training, years of combat experience, a bionic eye implant, and an assault rifle wired with a talking A.I. persona capable of feeding him invaluable tactical information. This is reminiscent of another little old video game you may have heard of called “Halo.”

Solid Snake… er, Tallis’ mission is basically over. He’s the last surviving member of his elite fighting unit sent to combat cloned cyborg drones that have exceeded their intended purpose of being next generation law enforcement. They are now taking over the United States and suppressing any and all resistance. Tallis is basically just surviving in occupied territory, until a nameless woman enters the scene.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’s Katee Sackhoff is a freedom fighter that Tallis rescues after her comrades are wiped out by drones in an ambush. It is Katee’s fighting spirit that gives Tallis the motivation he needs to stop surviving and start fighting to win, even while hopelessly outnumbered.

The pair set out to destroy the command and control center of the drones, but their mission is further endangered by the presence of a second generation model that proves to be a far greater threat.

What ever promise this premise held during the initial phase of development falls apart in practice. The whole movie plays out like a rough sketch of a bigger-budgeted, yet essentially bad genre movie. Paul Anderson’s SOLDIER starring Kurt Russell comes to mind.

The film’s only positive element is the casting of Don Wilson in the lead. He’s perfect in the role of an aging, battle-scarred warrior of few words. Everything else is underdeveloped or poorly executed.

The major problem is an inability to convey purpose. There’s lots of generic shooting, explosions and close-quarter knife fighting, but half of the time I have no idea what the immediate goals of the characters are. It feels like they’re just running from one end of a set to the other because the script told them to.

Action sequences are disappointing. I didn’t expect perfection on a budget, but I did expect more from Johnson after seeing the potential he showed in PIT FIGHTER. The best way I can describe the action scenes is stagy and artificial. A few combat scenes that replicate the chaotic atmosphere seen in BLACK HAWK DOWN are adequately constructed. Yet where it counts is where the film fails. Wilson’s more personal fighting against mindless drones is simply dull, unimaginative, poorly shot, and sloppily executed. I won’t go so far as to say it’s amateurish. Johnson knows his business, but the whole movie feels rushed and lacking attention to detail.

For instance, in one scene Wilson rolls the “dead” body of his friend, played by Bokeem Woodbine, into the water. We can clearly see the supposedly dead Woodbine glaringly jerk his head up to keep from getting dunked by Wilson. Why was this take left in the movie? Chances are the filmmakers didn’t have time or money for re-shoots or more preparation before shooting.

I love Katee Sackhoff’s work in the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA series and I believe that she brings much needed personality to this otherwise colorless film. But like just about everything else in the movie, her role is underdeveloped. Her onscreen chemistry with Wilson isn’t terrible, but isn’t great either. Unfortunately, these two have to carry almost the entire movie, save for the cheesy voice acting of Keith David and Dawnn Lewis as A.I. respectively for a mini gun and assault rifle. The only other dialogue comes from clichéd military chatter in flashbacks and poorly-made newsreel footage.

The enemy remains faceless, zombie-like “storm troopers” in slick future armor who bleed blue Glowstick fluid and present Wilson with virtually no real challenge. I laughed when a policeman being interviewed during a newsreel states that they never miss. Quite the contrary, their aim appears lousy for the most part. After seeing the armored fighters in BLADE 2, in the big budget flop that is ULTRAVIOLET and now this, I have thoroughly grown tired of what has obviously become a massive visual cliché that filmmakers are relying on to try and make their bad guys look cooler than they really are. The proof is in the awful reveal at the end of the movie when one of the elites finally removes his mask. Believe it or not he’s Anakin Skywalker, or Billy Corgan of SMASHING PUMPKINS fame.

THE LAST SENTINEL was supposed to reinvigorate Don Wilson’s image and career. I can’t say I was a fan of his to begin with, but I do think his role had a lot of potential for him. I don’t know where it went wrong exactly, but the end product is no better than some of the throwaway movies Wilson has spent years starring in. I know Johnson was shooting for a higher standard and I still think he’s capable of it, even on a budget. Yet something more intangible than fancy production standards is missing from this movie. PIT FIGHTER had it. Here’s hoping his next feature hits the mark.