The Last Sentinel is a cruddy mash-up of Soldier, The Terminator, and The Last Man on Earth. Don “The Dragon” Wilson stars as the Kurt Russell/Michael Biehn/Vincent Price stand-in, a genetically engineered soldier who wanders the post-apocalyptic wasteland foraging for supplies and avoiding detection by the bands of robot soldiers that patrol the streets. Sometimes, to break up the monotony, he’ll have a flashback to Keith David yelling at him or Bokeem Woodbine dying. Oh yeah, and his gun talks to him.
Directed by Jesse V. Johnson, The Last Sentinel is a mess. It’s choppy, sloppy, and not a whole lot of fun. The action is pretty generic too, which is fitting since the villains are equally generic. (The robots all look like dudes in black leather and motorcycle helmets.) That would be okay if it was just generic, but since this was a mid-‘00s action flick, that means the camera shakes unnecessarily during the action (especially in the flashbacks), which is supposed to lend some kind of urgency to the proceedings, but all it does it give the viewer a headache.
It doesn’t help that Wilson is miscast as the stone-faced super soldier. He’s usually entertaining whenever he’s playing the affable kickboxing leading man. He’s noticeably less effective here playing a morose, monotone, world-weary type. Further adding to the movie’s woes is its repetitive nature. Wilson will meditate in his library lair, go out looking for supplies, get into a gunfight with robots in a boiler room, and then head back home.
At least Katee Sackhoff infuses the movie with a little spark once she finally shows up as the leader of the human resistance. She doesn’t come close to saving the film, but at the very least, she makes it watchable. (It’s no wonder they put her on the DVD cover rather than Wilson.)
AKA: Robo Terminators. AKA: Last Soldier.
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