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The Last Mercenary
By Jennifer Green,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
French action spoof has violence, language, laughs.
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The Last Mercenary
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What's the Story?
In THE LAST MERCENARY (LE DERNIER MERCENAIRE), legendary former secret service agent turned mercenary Richard Brumiere (Jean Claude Van Damme), known as "The Mist" for his ability to disappear into thin air, resurfaces in Paris when his son (Samir Decazza) is mistakenly taken into custody. A Scarface-obsessed arms dealer (Nassim Lyes) has been using the son's identity to benefit from his diplomatic immunity, negotiated for his son by Brumiere when he was forced into hiding in the 1990s. The arms dealer is closing negotiations with a corrupt Foreign Affairs agent (Eric Judor), a plot Brumiere stumbles upon while rescuing his son. Brumiere, his son, his son's neighborhood friends Dalila (Assa Sylla) and Momo (Djimo), and a do-gooder from the Foreign Affairs Ministry (Alban Ivanov) team up to save France from the nefarious arms deal and catch the traffickers in their web.
Is It Any Good?
Van Damme proves again his prowess with both physical action and self effacing humor in this French spoof. Fans of the action hero will be satisfied with The Last Mercenary's nearly two hours of martial arts, weaponry, and car chases. But the film offers more by way of its self aware spoofing of the genre. There are fun references to other movies and goofy asides, like The Mist's frequent use of wise but also somewhat meaningless proverbs from world cultures. Van Damme's character is also a master of ridiculous disguise. Paris is on display in the background of this film, which has at least one line of patriotism in the script.
The ragtag team of mercenaries, who stop occasionally to strike action-hero poses, all grow individually as a result of their group effort, and the father-son bonding between Van Damme's "The Mist" and his grown but coddled and estranged son Archie offers a sweet storyline. Supporting cast, particularly Alban Ivanov as the bumbling do-gooder agent and Assa Sylla as the tough and clever local survivor, create charming secondary characters. It's also refreshing to see two older women -- played by veterans Miou Miou and Valerie Kaprisky -- in key roles.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the action sequences in The Last Mercenary. For example, how do you think the car chases were filmed? Did the violence in this film seem excessive or restrained? How so?
What other films were referenced in this film? What similarities did you notice among them?
What genre would you characterize this movie as? Why?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming: July 30, 2021
- Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme , Alban Ivanov , Samir Decazza
- Director: David Charhon
- Studio: Netflix
- Genre: Action/Adventure
- Topics: Sports and Martial Arts
- Run time: 112 minutes
- MPAA rating: NR
- Last updated: February 17, 2023
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