Modern Day Western: Our Review of ‘The Last Victim’

Posted in Movies, VOD/iTunes/DigitalDownload by - May 13, 2022
Modern Day Western: Our Review of ‘The Last Victim’

At times reviewing movies can be difficult. In most cases you can find the happy place somewhere in the middle of telling too much and telling too little. But there is the odd film that comes along that forces you to head closer to one side. The Last Victim is one of those films, and the review of it may not tell you much at all about the kind of movie it is, which is really for the better.

In the American southwest a violent gang murders several people and tries to hide their tracks. On their trail however is the local Sheriff (Ron Perlman,  Nightmare Alley) who will do anything to solve the case. Caught in the middle is a woman (Ali Larter, The Rookie) and her husband who are travelling across the country and stopping at tourist attractions along the way.   The Last Victim is the story of the good guys and the bad guys, and the innocent bystanders.

As soon as The Last Victim starts you can see the potential in it. It quickly sets the tone and the pace, and gives you an idea of where it’s heading. It’s really a great start to a western. You get excited to see what comes next and how everything plays out. The tension in the first few scenes continues throughout the entire film too, which can be difficult for filmmakers to pull off. Ralph Ineson (The Green Knight) was perfectly cast as the lead villain. He sends shivers down your spine with each word he speaks.

On the flip side of the coin Ron Perlman does a terrific job of playing the country Sheriff who is observant and intelligent, even though he’s in charge of a district where very little crime happens. In a lot of cases actors would chose to play this role in a certain way. One that would show the ineptness of the character. And that ineptness may come due to their age or boredom. But Perlman did it differently. Every turn of his head made it apparent he was noticing the little things that would help him solve the case.

While the acting and the story are very well done, some odd choices were made in making the film. For instance, at times there is an annoying, unneeded voiceover explaining Ineson’s character’s innermost thoughts. It comes off sounding eloquent and poetic, which the character most definitely is not. There are also some poorly chosen music to accompany some of the scenes that make you scratch your head. There are also a couple of creative decisions that really could have used a little more explanation in order for them to make sense.

The Last Victim isn’t a perfect film, but it’s still an enjoyable one. It’s also the type of film to watch without knowing too much about it.

  • Release Date: 5/13/2022
This post was written by
While Roderick has only been writing movie reviews for a relatively short time, he's been a fan of film for as long as he can remember. It's a love affair that started when he saw Star Wars at a drive-in theatre in Kitchener when he was four years old. In the past decade he's fulfilled his dream of interviewing celebrities, attending red carpets events at festivals such as TIFF and writing reviews for outlets such as Realstylenetwork.com. He's always on the hunt for the next big thing to hit the screen.
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