The Last Mercenary movie review 2021

MOVIE TITLE: The Last Mercenary

This action-comedy premieres exclusively on Netflix on July 30, 2021

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 50 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

Richard Brumère, aka “La Brume” (“The Mist”), a former French secret service special agent turned mercenary, is back in the saddle as the immunity he was granted 25 years earlier for his son Archibald is lifted. A mob operation threatens Archibald’s life. To save him, Richard will have to reach out to his old contacts, join forces with a bunch of reckless youngsters from the projects and an offbeat bureaucrat — but mostly find the courage to let Archibald know he’s his father.

THINGS I LIKED:

I love actors who can poke fun at themselves while being awesome. That’s exactly what Jean-Claude does in this film. The “muscles from Brussels” is back. The coolest shot is of Jean-Claude doing the splits up high on the walls. Classic. It reminds me of the Go Daddy commercial when he did the same thing but with maracas in his hands. He’s still got the impressive kicking and punching action with a lot of comedic chops. Chops all around. He fights. He dances. He’s still got the moves. I love his undercover outfits. This is the 3rd film Jean-Claude Van Damme has worked with a French director. It’s kind of nice to see him working in his own country and in his own language. The director of this film is David Charhon.
The production value is pretty high. Netflix seemed to have spent some money on this film.
Fun fact: Scenes were shot in Ukraine and France.
If you enjoy slapstick comedy, that’s exactly what you get in this movie. If you think that kind of humor is too goofy, you’re probably not going to enjoy this. There are both visual gags and spoken humor.
The movie definitely doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s all meant to be in good fun.
It’s fun to see the ridiculous team that Van Damme gathers to help him with his mission.
The movie feels like a fun mash-up of a lot of Van Damme’s best movies from the 1980s. The script feels like it was tailor-made just for him.
Original music
Some movie references to Scarface (1983).
There is a LOT of diversity in the cast.
A lot of the 80s action movie stars seem to be coming back “one last time”, but there is no question that they’ll do another one if/when the movies make a ton of money.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

I was shocked to learn that Jean-Claude Van Damme is only 60 years old. His body is still going strong, but his well-worn face makes him look much older.
It’s pretty goofy with ridiculous action sequences that will make you laugh out loud. But you have to remember that’s intentional.
Some people may be turned off by the fact that the movie is all in French with English subtitles and dubbing.
Jean-Claude made a statement that he was excited to work in this genre, a statement that has confused many people because he has done some comedy action in the past. Maybe he’s talking about the Netflix streaming aspect?