cityonfire.com | The Last Sentinel

	The Last Sentinel "The Last Sentinel is a very disappointing movie, even on the level it aims for. It's the type of movie that is too well made to laugh at, and yet not nearly as campy or full of energy that the early Don Wilson movies contained." - American Ninja Man The Last Sentinel (2007) Director: Jesse Johnson Writer: Jesse Johnson Cast: Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, Katee Sackhoff, Bokeem Woodbine, Keith David Running Time: 93 min. Plot: See reviews below. Reviews AMERICAN NINJA MAN'S REVIEW: Don Wilson has been a B-movie industry, second rate action star so long, that any bored teenager with cable was guarteed to run into one of his little classics on a Sunday afternoon or a late Saturday night. The Don Wilson flicks that were popular in my day were Cyber Tracker, Bloodfist (series), Ring Of Fire (series) and Blackbelt. These were on WGN, TBS and TNT (Back when they actually played movies that weren't so gay). Now 13 years later, the movie debuting for bored teenagers of the new millienium is The Last Sentinel and for the next generation of MPM's, ANM's (That's me, dumbass!), Neil Koch's and Raven's, I can only imagine how truly sad it's gotten to be a little ANM this day and age. Especially when a B-movie schlock is this unambitious and soulless. To add to the defeat, Don Wilson has dropped 'The Dragon' and he no longer has his martial arts ability, which is the only reason I loved the guy's movies as a kid. So we witness Don Wilson shoot up bland robots, who stumble through the ruins of the society as if they themselves are dumbfounded by what took place. There is no true evil force, just an indifferent bad guy who lacks the motivation or conviction to do anything to win our fear and scorn. In fact, this movie is so poorly written that the movie never explains the bad guy's point of view outside of the fact that they want to exterminate humans. Once again, it's a sad day when the bad guys are more aimless than imposing. The robots just walk around waiting to be shot by Don Wilson. Don Wilson is actually adequate in his role, mainly because he's playing a robotic soldier who was trained at birth to wipe out these mindless robots. Therefore, his typically wooden and blank look of indifference is appropriate. The reason why I haven't called him Don "The Dragon" Wilson is because this Don Wilson is so far outside everything that made "The Dragon" so enjoyable (even if it was for shits and giggles); it's as if that it's as if Don doesn't care anymore. In fact this is the first movie I've ever seen where Don Wilson hasn't used his martial arts expertise. Also, Don Wilson looks so old in this movie that he seems more adept to singing The Beach Boy's song "Heroes and Villains" than actually kicking ass. Where as Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren have actually started to act, (Lundgren also is a surprisingly good director as well.) Don Wilson's whole claim to fame is kicking ass, and once you take this away from him, all you have is a stiff actor straining to make his old demeanor credible. Sure, Wilson is far more effective than Seagal today, but come on, where is the old 'Dragon' we love? The story (because I'm obligated to describe it) finds Don Wilson as a blank robotic soldier who dukes it out with other robots who have taken over the planet. You see the bad guy robots are easy to kill (They die from automatic gunfire) and make up the police force in the future. This future by the way looks burned out and so an elite unit of these half man half robot soldiers (Think Universal Soldier minus the fun factor) can stop the bad robots from taking over the world and wiping out all the human beings on this planet. Of course, how this all happened, such as why the robots want to eliminate the humans, why the half machine half human soldiers are assembled, or how for that matter, is not explained. Indeed, even how society got the way it is, is neglected from the story. So without a sense of rhyme or reason, all we have is two robots fighting each other without giving us anyone to clearly root for. The Last Sentinel does a few things right. The production values are astonishingly higher than any Don Wilson I've ever seen and the movie does have a few moments in the action sequences that director Jesse Johnson has some flair in conducting these shootouts with a fair degree of style; it's just since we know so little about the villain and barely more about the hero, the viewer stays detached and can't get into the movie. At least I couldn't and I for one always had a soft spot for Don Wilson. The Last Sentinel is a very disappointing movie, even on the level it aims for. It's the type of movie that is too well made to laugh at, and yet not nearly as campy or full of energy that the early Don Wilson movies contained. I myself remembering Cyber Tracker being very cheap, derivative and full of various ridiculous moments. (I.E The scene where Wilson programs an A.I to get drunk with him.) However Cyber Tracker had an overall low budget B-movie edge that wore its badness with pride. That movie was somewhat entertaining. The Last Sentinel on the other hand is just one big chase with no real edge, verve or soul. With far better movies out there - like The Terminator, Robocop, Mad Max and Universal Soldier - as well as far more entertaining Don Wilson flicks, The Last Sentinel basically stalls at being too mediocre to satisfy any audience. But then again, it debuted on the Sci-Fi channel and I think that right there speaks for itself. AMERICAN NINJA MAN'S RATING: 4/10 (Seriously if you want to see Don Wilson beat up robots, check out the campfest Cyber Tracker instead.)

The Last Sentinel

"The Last Sentinel is a very disappointing movie, even on the level it aims for. It's the type of movie that is too well made to laugh at, and yet not nearly as campy or full of energy that the early Don Wilson movies contained."

- American Ninja Man

The Last Sentinel (2007)

Director: Jesse Johnson

Writer: Jesse Johnson

Cast: Don 'The Dragon' Wilson, Katee Sackhoff, Bokeem Woodbine, Keith David

Running Time: 93 min.

Plot: See reviews below.

Reviews

AMERICAN NINJA MAN'S REVIEW: Don Wilson has been a B-movie industry, second rate action star so long, that any bored teenager with cable was guarteed to run into one of his little classics on a Sunday afternoon or a late Saturday night. The Don Wilson flicks that were popular in my day were Cyber Tracker, Bloodfist (series), Ring Of Fire (series) and Blackbelt. These were on WGN, TBS and TNT (Back when they actually played movies that weren't so gay). Now 13 years later, the movie debuting for bored teenagers of the new millienium is The Last Sentinel and for the next generation of MPM's, ANM's (That's me, dumbass!), Neil Koch's and Raven's, I can only imagine how truly sad it's gotten to be a little ANM this day and age. Especially when a B-movie schlock is this unambitious and soulless.

To add to the defeat, Don Wilson has dropped 'The Dragon' and he no longer has his martial arts ability, which is the only reason I loved the guy's movies as a kid. So we witness Don Wilson shoot up bland robots, who stumble through the ruins of the society as if they themselves are dumbfounded by what took place. There is no true evil force, just an indifferent bad guy who lacks the motivation or conviction to do anything to win our fear and scorn. In fact, this movie is so poorly written that the movie never explains the bad guy's point of view outside of the fact that they want to exterminate humans. Once again, it's a sad day when the bad guys are more aimless than imposing. The robots just walk around waiting to be shot by Don Wilson.

Don Wilson is actually adequate in his role, mainly because he's playing a robotic soldier who was trained at birth to wipe out these mindless robots. Therefore, his typically wooden and blank look of indifference is appropriate. The reason why I haven't called him Don "The Dragon" Wilson is because this Don Wilson is so far outside everything that made "The Dragon" so enjoyable (even if it was for shits and giggles); it's as if that it's as if Don doesn't care anymore. In fact this is the first movie I've ever seen where Don Wilson hasn't used his martial arts expertise. Also, Don Wilson looks so old in this movie that he seems more adept to singing The Beach Boy's song "Heroes and Villains" than actually kicking ass. Where as Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren have actually started to act, (Lundgren also is a surprisingly good director as well.) Don Wilson's whole claim to fame is kicking ass, and once you take this away from him, all you have is a stiff actor straining to make his old demeanor credible. Sure, Wilson is far more effective than Seagal today, but come on, where is the old 'Dragon' we love?

The story (because I'm obligated to describe it) finds Don Wilson as a blank robotic soldier who dukes it out with other robots who have taken over the planet. You see the bad guy robots are easy to kill (They die from automatic gunfire) and make up the police force in the future. This future by the way looks burned out and so an elite unit of these half man half robot soldiers (Think Universal Soldier minus the fun factor) can stop the bad robots from taking over the world and wiping out all the human beings on this planet. Of course, how this all happened, such as why the robots want to eliminate the humans, why the half machine half human soldiers are assembled, or how for that matter, is not explained. Indeed, even how society got the way it is, is neglected from the story. So without a sense of rhyme or reason, all we have is two robots fighting each other without giving us anyone to clearly root for.

The Last Sentinel does a few things right. The production values are astonishingly higher than any Don Wilson I've ever seen and the movie does have a few moments in the action sequences that director Jesse Johnson has some flair in conducting these shootouts with a fair degree of style; it's just since we know so little about the villain and barely more about the hero, the viewer stays detached and can't get into the movie. At least I couldn't and I for one always had a soft spot for Don Wilson.

The Last Sentinel is a very disappointing movie, even on the level it aims for. It's the type of movie that is too well made to laugh at, and yet not nearly as campy or full of energy that the early Don Wilson movies contained. I myself remembering Cyber Tracker being very cheap, derivative and full of various ridiculous moments. (I.E The scene where Wilson programs an A.I to get drunk with him.) However Cyber Tracker had an overall low budget B-movie edge that wore its badness with pride. That movie was somewhat entertaining. The Last Sentinel on the other hand is just one big chase with no real edge, verve or soul. With far better movies out there - like The Terminator, Robocop, Mad Max and Universal Soldier - as well as far more entertaining Don Wilson flicks, The Last Sentinel basically stalls at being too mediocre to satisfy any audience.

But then again, it debuted on the Sci-Fi channel and I think that right there speaks for itself.

AMERICAN NINJA MAN'S RATING: 4/10 (Seriously if you want to see Don Wilson beat up robots, check out the campfest Cyber Tracker instead.)