Dimitri Logothetis’ gunner is a typical American action thriller about celebrated war veteran Colonel Lee Gunner, who returns to his hometown of Clinton from Afghanistan after the death of his eldest son David. The story is simple. Since 9/11, Lee has been an absent father who spends much of his life fighting for his country. David (or Dave) followed in his father’s footsteps and also volunteered for Afghanistan. In this hell, David needed his hero, his father, the most, but Lee disappeared for a year. Meanwhile, Dave, both emotionally and physically broken, started taking painkillers to ease the pain and later resorted to drugs like fentanyl, which eventually cost him his life. Now Lee wants to put everything right again. He wants to redeem himself by being there for his two boys, Travis (16) and Luke (10), so he decides to go camping with them, after which the boys are kidnapped.
Spoiler alert
Now you can see why Lee isn’t a great father figure. Wherever he goes, bad luck and trouble follow him; that would explain why his wife Claire had trust issues when she sent the kids with him. However, Dimitri Logothetis’ film doesn’t delve into these complex emotions and focuses mostly on portraying Lee as a Green Beret, a one-man army who single-handedly took out an entire Al-Qaeda commando. And now, to save his children, he’s ready to blow up the drug operation of Clinton drug lord Kendrick Ryker and his irresponsible son Dobbs.
Why did Dobbs kidnap Lee’s children?
Lee and his boys had gone camping in the woods along with Lee’s army friend Jon, where they accidentally stumbled upon Ryker’s lab, which was preparing the shipment for a large shipment. Lee and Jon tried to escape, but Jon accidentally set off a landmine and died in the explosion. Lee had no choice but to fight back and ended up shooting Dobbs’ men, which is why the drug trafficker took his children hostage so that their father, a soldier, would stop chasing his men. But to make matters worse, the DEA arrived at the location, and Dobbs had no choice but to leave the scene with Lee’s children. Dobbs later blamed Lee for the loss of his drugs and asked him to steal them from the FBI if he wanted to see his sons alive. Yes, that urgency!
But you see, Lee wasn’t responsible for the raid on Dobbs’ lab. FBI agent Ron Kaylor, who had previously arrested Kendrick Ryker, had planted a mole in Dobbs’ gang. His name was Kang, and the guy ate three Hawaiian pizzas the day of the DEA raid. From his text message, Dobbs was able to deduce that he was the informant on the team.
How did Lee save the children?
Well, even though Lee was an invincible superhero, he knew one thing for sure: if he stole from the FBI, he wouldn’t be able to stay out of prison, no matter what he did or would have done for this country. So he played it safe. Kang had informed the FBI about Dobbs’ Tannehill Iron Works factory, and Dobbs knew that officials would soon conduct a raid, so he left the factory as soon as possible. And before he left, he left Lee’s middle child, Travis, behind. Most likely, Dobbs viewed him as extra baggage, and hiring this kid was a happy way for them to part ways. So, after Lee had the assurance that at least one of his sons was safe, he decided to indulge in some thrills—it was an action movie, right? He broke into Jackson State Prison and kidnapped Dobbs’ father, Kendrick, in exchange for the life of his youngest son.
Well, these two fathers argued a lot, only to come to the conclusion that they were absolutely worthless fathers who had a negative influence on their children. But see, at this point in the movie, the script and dialogues are a total mess. I say this because Dobbs didn’t like his father at all. He sought respect and recognition from him, but the old man only saw disappointment. And that might be one of the reasons why Dobbs wasn’t too keen on releasing his father from prison, because in such a case, he would have had to hand over the business to him and lose the power he currently held. And I’m not sure if Dobbs felt the same way or not, but Kendrick knew that a son like Dobbs wouldn’t mind killing his own father just to take over the business. So the question I’m trying to ask is: Why did Dobbs agree to let Lee’s child go in exchange for his father? The second mistake is that Lee’s child was useless to Dobbs. He already had the drugs he needed to complete the shipment, and he was just toying with Lee so the macho man would keep the FBI busy with his stunts. So if he really didn’t care about Lee’s kid, why didn’t he just let him go? He knew Lee would stop chasing his men once he had his kid. So why poke a lion when you know you can’t fight it? Either Dobbs was a poorly written character, or he was just plain stupid.
Eventually Lee got to the abandoned furnace to make the exchange, but as a precaution he had taped a shotgun to Kendrick’s chest so the old man wouldn’t dare do anything stupid. But he did. He had stolen a screwdriver from Sean’s car and used it to stab Lee’s thigh during the exchange. And as Kendrick ran toward his son’s gang he tripped on something and fell to the ground, causing the gun to go off, taking his life. Stupid old man. He could have just waited and moved on, really. There was really no reason for such a stunt because at the end of the day Dobbs would have just let the kid go and it would have been a peaceful ending for both parties.
While gunnerAt the end of The Last Movie, Dobbs ordered his men to kill Lee for murdering his father. I still don’t know why he blamed Lee for it, because he didn’t kill him. Kendrick himself was killed. Before the thugs could kill Lee, the FBI arrived at the scene and Dobbs and his right-hand man, Chao, had to flee the scene in a helicopter. Here you see, even though Dobbs was the head of the drug business, it was actually Chao who was running it. He was the real brains behind it and Dobbs was just a nepotistic kid seeking his father’s approval. And I don’t know how or when Lee jumped into the helicopter, but somehow our Superman got on board and attacked Dobbs and Chao in the helicopter. In the climax scene, he threw Dobbs out of the helicopter to put an end to evil once and for all. And since the helicopter was about to crash, Lee took a parachute and jumped out with his kid to finally end the movie. Thankfully. And yes, there were a lot of jump cuts in the climactic action sequences because Dimitri Logothetis was too lazy to explain the logic behind them and he thought that cutting a few things would make it easier for those who watch a mindless action thriller.
Will Lee work for the local sheriff?
In gunnerAt the end of The Last Man, it becomes clear that Lee didn’t disappear on his own. Instead, he was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda while trying to save his comrade’s life. During his capture, he was physically tortured by the terrorist, and you could see scars all over his body that he tried to hide from the guys. Lee’s family hated him because he had no contact with them for a year and was absent when Dave needed him most. In short, they blamed him for Dave’s death, and he took full responsibility for it, as he didn’t want to hurt his family even more by revealing the truth about his capture. But now that the secret has come out, I think Lee will be able to communicate better with his sons and wife. At the beginning of the film, Lee told everyone that he ran a private security company, thanks to which he could afford expensive cars and equipment. And if Lee isn’t the type to be after extra cash, then maybe he’ll actually consider Bob Lilly’s offer and start working for the Sheriff’s Department. Because such a plan would not only give him the opportunity to serve his country and fight crime, but it would also keep him close to his family, which is the only thing the man wants right now. So if he’s willing to give up the luxurious truck, then we might actually see Lee as the town’s new sheriff in the film’s sequel, if there ever is one.
