The Last of the Mohicans

Composite Score: 83.53

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means, Eric Schweig, Jodhi May, Steven Waddington, Wes Studi, Maurice Roëves, Patrice Chéreau, Edward Blatchford, and Terry Kinney

Director: Michael Mann

Writers: Michael Mann and Christopher Crowe

Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance, War

MPAA Rating: R for violence

Box Office: $75.51 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                The Last of the Mohicans is Michael Mann’s adaptation of James Fennimore Cooper’s novel of the same name about the Seven Years’ War in America between the French and the British. The film tweaks some of the details of Cooper’s novel, but still focuses on Nathaniel “Hawkeye” Poe and his two Mohican companions, Chingachgook and Uncas – played by Daniel Day-Lewis, Russell Means, and Eric Schweig, respectively – and their endeavors to protect Cora and Alice Munro, daughters of the British commander of Ft. William Henry, against threats from the French and the Huron Native Americans, led by Wes Studi’s Magua, who has a personal vendetta against Colonel Munro. The star power of Daniel Day-Lewis, a thrilling score, and decent production design have made it one of the classic “dad movies” that get watched alongside Braveheart, The Patriot, and Saving Private Ryan.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                For starters, the historical inaccuracy of the destruction of the Mohican tribe was used in Cooper’s novel as a way to make settlers feel better about settling on Native American lands, since they were dying out anyway. The Mohicans are still a Native American tribe that exists today in healthy numbers. That very background to the film should disqualify it from most discussions. I would also say that criticism extends perhaps further to the film, since they turn the character of Hawkeye into an adopted Mohican himself, not merely a tracker who knows them, as a way of giving the Mohicans a white representative. Did Daniel Day-Lewis make the film more marketable? Probably, but that doesn’t excuse turning the Native Americans into side characters whose actions always get explained and defended by their white friend.

                In addition to its problematic context, The Last of the Mohicans is a fairly unremarkable entry in its genre. There’s better romances, better action films, better Native American adventures, better colonial war content; heck, even the video game Assassin’s Creed: Rogue has better Seven Years’ War content. There’s just not really enough to write home about in The Last of the Mohicans to make it worth more than a one-time watch for me.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                There’s two things that The Last of the Mohicans has that make it worth watching once – a memorable third act and a great performance from its antagonist. Up to the point of the film’s third act, which is essentially a long chase sequence sparked by the Huron ambush of the retreating British, the film moves fairly slowly and doesn’t give the audience much to work with. However, the final sequence, from the canoe chase, to the waterfall scene, to the village trial, to the final cliffside showdown gives the audience those moments that might just make the rest of the film worth it. Great moments of action, daring, sacrifice, and vengeance bring home a narrative that, for a good portion of the film, felt like it was going nowhere. The reason people keep watching and rewatching The Last of the Mohicans is because they remember everything that happens in the third act and forget the first two – it’s really that much better.

                In order for the third act to work, the film needs a solid antagonist, and Wes Studi provides that in his performance as Magua, the Huron spy and war leader. In a film that feels like one of Daniel Day-Lewis’s weaker performances, Wes Studi outshines him and gives one of the best villain performances in a war movie (Hans Landa notwithstanding). His personal vendetta against the British gives him compelling motivation to become the dissenting voice of Native Americans against oppression. In similar fashion to Black Panther’s Killmonger, Magua advocates for using the strategies and weapons of the colonizers against them, which (again like Killmonger) is decried as hypocrisy and leads to a majority of his allies forsaking him. Nonetheless, Studi’s performance remains compelling thanks to his excellent characterization and physicality, which also hopefully helps audiences see not only the flaws of his plan but of colonization and its weapons in general.

                Wes Studi anchors the film’s third act with an excellent turn as its antagonist, helping motivate the action that makes the ending of The Last of the Mohicans so memorable and the film so successful. Its glaring historical inaccuracies, problematic background, and general lack of any kind of quality film from the first and second acts keep me from recommending you keep it on a must-watch list, but that ending warrants watching at least once, as does Studi’s Magua. This film is currently available to rent on most streaming services if you want to give it a go.