A typical crime thriller in the vein of many '90s films, giving us clichéd characters and plenty of action, with little plot or character development. Despite having a predictable premise of two characters who initially hate each other, team up and grow to love one another, this film benefits from some good acting from Willis and Wayans. Willis plays the character role he was stuck with in the early '90s, basically the washed-up alcoholic cop (talk about typecasting...), but he plays it very well indeed and frequently manages to be very funny. Wayans, on the other hand, gives a very compassionate and likable performance. The chemistry between the two actually works for a change and this makes the film, as a whole, a lot easier to bear.The plot twists and turns for a bit while our heroes try to figure out who's responsible for a murder of a friend while in the mean time avoid being killed. The action scenes come fast and violent - just the way I like them. There are plenty of impressive moments, such as Willis killing an opponent with just one punch, or a stunt where a car flies over a house before landing in a swimming pool. The only negative point in the film - aside from the unoriginality that is - was the excessive and laboured swearing, which seemed a bit forced (unlike in RESERVOIR DOGS, where it seemed at home). Stick around for the excellent climax which has Willis battling the chief villain on top of some scaffolding at a football game. Otherwise, this is solid entertainment, even if we have seen it all before.

Tony Scott's The Last Boy Scout is pure stylistic grime, an exercise in early 90's action with the blackest of humour. The tone is set with a square jaw early on: a star quarterback for a hotshot NFL team is under a lot of underground pressure to make that perfect play and in turn please the loan sharks. He buckles under the heat, ends up pulling a gun on the field and murdering a score of opponents before turning the gun on himself. Now horrifying as that is, if you have a sick sense of humor like me it conjures a dark chuckle of the most guilty variety, because.. well, it's funny! Albeit in the darkest way possible, which is the arena this one skates in, love it or leave it. Upon closer examination of the script we discover it's penned by that wonderful man Shane Black, who gave us Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and the upcoming The Nice Guys. No one can produce such heinous mayhem with a cavalier attitude and actually get away with it as well as Black does. The guy is a prodigy of dark humour, and who better to embody his protagonist here than a sheepish Bruce Willis as Joe Hallenbeck, a jaded ex detective who is so sullen and cynical he's almost comatose. He's paired with equally slummy former quarterback Jimmy Six (Damon Wayons), lazily trying to solve a case involving the murderous quarterback and some shady politicians. Along the way that's paved with many a sarcastic, beleaguered exchange they cross seedy paths with shady villains (Taylor Negron, RIP, and a youthful Kim Coates), a beautiful working girl with ties to the case (Halle Berry) and Willis's spitfire of a dysfunctional daughter (Danielle Harris). There's a wonderfully bloated supporting cast including Noble Willingham, Chelsea Field, Joe Santos, Bruce McGill and more. It's got a bite that stings, mainly thanks to Black's frighteningly pissy screenplay which give the film it's sardonic, put - upon aesthetic. This meshes together nicely with Scott's trademark sun soaked, pulpy, picturesque tone and provides one hell of an action movie ride. Nasty in all the right places, funny when the story begs for it, and build to last.

I remember when 'The Last Boy Scout' was released. If my memory serves me correctly, it was considered a box off flop. However, I enjoyed it and, now I come to watch it again over twenty years later, I find that today's online reaction seems to back up my feelings towards it. In other words, it's actually quite fun.Bruce Willis plays... well, Bruce Willis really. This could almost be another Die Hard movie by another name. He's a wise-cracking alcoholic cop (or ex cop here, to be fair) who ends up taking on the bad guys. This time he's investigating the double murder of both his best friend and the client he was meant to protect, but whereas he tended to do things on his own in Die Hard, he's ably assisted by a disgraced football player, played by Damon Waynes.The first thing you have to know before you consider watching this is that it's kind of tongue in cheek. Today's action movies seem to be super serious (with the possible exception of the 'Expendables' series), so if you're looking for something tough and gritty, you'll probably find this one a little too far-fetched.It certainly has its plus points. Obviously, there are plenty of shoot outs and car chases, not to mention villains who are uber-villainous and strip clubs to arrange seedy underworld meetings in. But the film's major selling point is the chemistry between Willis and Waynes. They really do play off each other well and the dialogue between them is the very definition of banter.It is a little far fetched though. I will always remember a character being thrown off a bridge, landing on a car, only to get up and wander off like nothing had happened. I think that probably goes down as one of the most 'hardest to survive' falls in film history! Don't expect too much realism here; like I say – tongue in cheek! Having looked up some details online recently, I see that the production was apparently 'fraught with problems' behind the scenes. There are plenty of rumours surrounding what happened on set and I don't know how many are true. However, I still think that the finished product is actually something pretty good fun and very watchable (if you're looking for a pretty implausible buddy type cop film).And, if you're into internet rumours – look up the one about the squirrel, Bruce Willis' trailer and the hair-piece.

It's hard to believe that The Last Boy Scout under performed at the box office and was not a blockbuster many had hoped despite the hype surrounding the movie. This had all the elements of a solid action comedy extravaganza. There was no denying the star power of Bruce Willis who cemented his status as an action hero in Die Hard, and Damon Wayans who established himself in numerous comedies. Writer Shane Black exploded onto the Hollywood scene in a big way with Lethal Weapon. Larger than life producer Joel Silver who was responsible for movies such as Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Commando, Predator and 48 Hrs had the Midas touch when it came to box office blockbusters. And the late director Tony Scott was flying high following the success of Top Gun. Unfortunately most audiences didn't see The Last Boy Scout as box office gold and many critics dismissed the movie as an implausible action movie that was too violent with an overload of coarse language. In spite of its underwhelming performance at the box office, The Last Boy Scout later became widely popular when released on home video.Bruce Willis stars as a former highly regarded Secret Service Agent turned two-bit private investigator Joe Hallenbeck. Joe Hallenbeck is a mess when we first see him in the movie. He is an alcoholic and he appears as an unkempt slob. He was fired from the Secret Service for punching Senator Calvin Baynard (Chelcie Ross) to stop him from torturing a woman in a hotel room and refusing to cover up the incident. Joe's wife Sarah (Chelsea Field) who is growing tired of his indifferent attitude is also having an affair with Joe's best friend and business partner Mike Matthews (Bruce McGill). Joe's abrasive, foul-mouthed daughter Darian (Danielle Harris) does not respect her father and frequently defies him. Mike is killed in a car bomb after he hands Joe a job to act as a bodyguard for a stripper named Cory (Halle Berry in an early role). Cory's boyfriend, former LA Stallions quarterback Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans) who was banned after allegations of gambling and drug use, confronts Joe and instantly dismisses Joe as a loser. After Cory is gunned down by several hit men, Joe Hallenbeck and Jimmy Dix must work together to uncover a serious corruption scandal involving a Senator and the high profile owner of the LA Stallions Shelly Marcone (Noble Willingham). As well as investigating why Jimmy's girlfriend Cory was murdered, they must also evade Marcone's top henchman, the sadistic Milo (the late Taylor Negron).They don't make movies like The Last Boy Scout anymore. Hardcore ultra-violent old-school action, foul mouthed one liners, and plenty of humorous moments. Nowadays most action movies are either watered down to attract a larger audience or even throw all logic out the window and have action for the sake of action, and sometimes most violent action movies can be box office poison.Besides the Die Hard movies (except the disappointing A Good Day to Die Hard) and The Sixth Sense, this is one of Bruce Willis' best movies. I enjoyed it a lot. Damon Wayans makes a great sidekick for Bruce Willis and his comedic timing is well suited for this movie. The rest of the cast is quite good, in particular the late Taylor Negron as the sadistic Milo made a great villain.The Last Boy Scout is still a guilty pleasure of mine and is still holds up as a very enjoyable action comedy.9/10