Netflix’s The Last Mercenary – A Fun Retro Action-Comedy

Jean-Claude Van Damme, or JCVD as he is often called, may be a bonafide action star but he hasn’t arguably had much of a chance to show it as of late outside of roles in countless straight-to-video features. However, now he has been given a vehicle where he can truly show those action chops in Netflix’s The Last Mercenary, a French action-comedy that is a complete blast to watch. Led by JCVD who certainly did not disappoint, making it worth the watch alone, the film is truly an ensemble piece to guide viewers through a ridiculous story that works in spite of it. Not only is the film exciting to watch for that action, it is also a hilarious and surprisingly-compelling tale about family. While JCVD definitely still has it action-wise, he didn’t take things seriously. And though it doesn’t bring anything new to the table by any means, JCVD and the chemistry of the whole cast keep it afloat and make it so fun to watch.

The Last Mercenary follows a man named Richard (Van Damme), a legendary secret agent with a troubled past who must return from obscurity once a clerical blunder forced him to return to France as his estranged, now adult, son named Archibald (Decazza) became the target of the same government after being falsely accused. Suffice it to say that the French government would have preferred Richard stay away as he and his special set of skills made him a great agent and a formidable adversary. As a result of a failed mission, he had to stay away and out of Archibald’s life to protect him but in order to protect him now, he had to come back into Archibald’s life. The contrast between the two could not have been any more clear as the intelligent, kickass, master of disguise was nothing like his son, a sleazy student who merely scrounged to get by. Their dynamic was the best part of the film as Richard had to learn how to be a father for the first time while Archibald had to learn how to step up and prove himself to his father and others as they found themselves under fire by forces looking to eliminate them.

The presence of Richard in Archibald’s life was a disruption to say the least as two would have to learn to work together as the two eventually had to deal with the elephant in the room which was their estranged relationship. Meanwhile, they could also not do it alone as they and Archibald’s friends, Dalila (Assa Sylla) and Momo (Djimo), made for a fun, young team whose dynamic played well against the grizzled, old school Richard. They had their moments individually and together but in the end, they stayed out of the way for Richard to do his thing to get to the bottom of the conspiracy and clear he and his son’s name. The circumstances leading up to this conspiracy may be ridiculous but those were minor in the grand scheme of things. Watching Richard use those skills and Archibald, Dalila, and Momo come into their own in the midst of that conspiracy was a blast and often hilarious as the dialog was on point more often than not.

The action of The Last Mercenary was a highlight as the great fight choreography kept things exciting to watch, of course catering to the ability of JCVD who is now getting up in age. He gave as much as he received as the film at least kept fights interesting to watch, especially when sprinkling in little fun moments within many of the fights. To that extent, the film featured several standout sequences which strung all of that together in an exciting way. However at the end of the day, the best part of the film was clearly Van Damme as Richard. His charm and screen presence made it hard not to look away as he took charge and commanded the screen while he looked natural in comedic settings with his different disguises. Decazza, on the other hand, held his own alongside Van Damme as Archibald with a compelling and relatable turn and a compelling arc over the course of the film.

Overall, for JCVD fans and/or those looking for a fun 90s style action-comedy, The Last Mercenary may very well be up their alley.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.