Bruce Willis (“Die Hard”, “The Fifth Element”) stars in “Last Man Standing”, which serves as gangster remake of the samurai flick “Yojimbo” and the Western “A Fistful Of Dollars”. Most people don’t seem to care for this version of the same premise but I think it’s almost as good if not as entertaining as “A Fistful Of Dollars”.

The drifting gunslinger John Smith (Willis) arrives in the town of Jericho, a place where two rival gangs compete for dominance. Smith decides to put himself in harm’s way as he plays the two sides with the hope of making some money while the bitter fight rages on.

Bruce Willis will never be as good as Clint Eastwood but he does a good job here. He plays the tough guy well and the amount of shooting he does in this movie is ridiculous… and I mean that in the best possible way. My only complaint is that he talks very quietly during the vast majority of the movie. David Patrick Kelly (“The Warriors”), Christopher Walken (“Batman Returns”) and Ned Eisenberg (“Million Dollar Baby”) play some of the main bad guys and they’re all enjoyable. I also enjoyed the performances of William Sanderson (“Blade Runner”) as the bartender, Bruce Dern (“The ‘Burbs”) as the town’s corrupt law enforcer and Karina Lombard as an innocent girl held captive by one of the gangsters.

“Last Man Standing” features some outrageously fun shootouts that remind me of “Desperado”. This is a stylish gangster movie and I don’t know why a lot of people don’t like it. Maybe some feel the formula present in “Yojimbo” and “A Fistful Of Dollars” became stale for them but I think the fact that each of the three films is part of a different genre means each one is fresh and original enough. It’s not a terrific picture but if you like gangster movies or you enjoyed the versions of the story then this is worth checking out.