‘The Last Shot’ Netflix Movie Review - One Last Job, Zero Lasting Impact

As far as the story goes, the one we see in Putthipong Naktong's The Last Shot is as old as the mountains. A hitman, very good at his job, wants to leave the life of crime but is asked to do one last job before retirement. He is Petch (Somphol Rungphanit), and he begins to think about retirement when he witnesses an innocent bystander succumbing to her wounds after accidentally coming into the line of fire. Characters like Petch, of course, never get to retire. The so-called last job always lands them in trouble. Petch has an ex-wife named Sai (Sarika Sartsilpsupa), whose job now is to please rich men at a luxury establishment. What led to Petch and Sai's separation? During their wedding, he shot two men who came to kill his friend, Bom (Patara Eksangkul). What did Petch do before becoming a hitman? Was he always an assassin, or did he become one after this wedding incident? The Last Shot never gets into any personal details about its characters' pasts. It doesn't even tell us how Petch and Sai met because this information is not relevant to the plot.

The movie, then, comes across as an exercise by a film school student testing the basic formula of the crime thriller genre. That would explain the writer-director's incuriosity regarding the history of his characters and why he deploys them as chess pieces. What Naktong seems to enjoy most is filming violence, which is why a torture scene at a police station and other slam-bang shootouts infuse a slight sense of dynamism into The Last Shot. Blood briefly splatters across the screen during one such sequence. Yet the movie ultimately is a washout. It neither has a distinct style nor a distinct atmosphere. It doesn't even offer twists and turns for superficial pleasure. The only thing in the film that works to an extent is the chemistry between—and the performances of—Rungphanit and Eksangkul. They genuinely come across as best-friends-cum-brothers in the way they look at each other. There is more warmth in their exchanges than between Sai and Petch—or between this film and Naktong. Another sweet aspect of The Last Shot appears during the end credits, where the crew members smile for the camera. On one hand, it's a miscalculation that immediately breaks the spell (even if minor) of the sad climax. On the other hand, those happy faces do force you to respond with a soft "Aww." Critics, often to dismiss a bad film, say that the best thing about it was the end credits sequence. In The Last Shot's case, a line like this should not be treated as a sneering joke. The end credits actually are the best part about Naktong's crime thriller.

Final Score- [3.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times