Ever since his career as governor of California came to a close Arnold Schwarzenegger has been working overtime getting his chiseled mug back into the world of action cinema. Last weekend he returned to theaters with an expanded role in The Expendables 2, but the Austrian Oak won’t be seen in a starring since making his comeback until next January when The Last Stand hits theaters.

Here’s a first look at the movie via a newly released trailer. You can check it out here below.

Schwarzenegger plays former Ray Owens, a former Los Angeles cop who has taken on the job of sheriff in a sleepy border town. When one of the biggest drug lords in the world (Eduardo Noriega) makes a spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy and heads for Owens’ town at top speed with a hostage and a gang of ruthless thugs in town the sheriff must gather his meager forces and stop the drug lord from getting across the border and evading justice forever.

The cast also includes Forest Whitaker, Peter Stormare, Rodrigo Santoro, Jaimie Alexander, Johnny Knoxville, Harry Dean Stanton, Luis Guzman, and Genesis Rodriguez. Korean filmmaker Jee-woon Kim (I Saw the Devil) makes his English language directing debut from a script by Andrew Knauer, Jeffrey Nachmanoff, and George Nolfi.

It’s good to see Ah-nuld taking on dramatically weightier roles in the kind of full-blooded action flicks he used to make before his career was almost totally derailed by a horrific phenomenon known only as “the 1990’s”. The dude’s got a weathered look now and it will give his often-wooden performances a hint of gravitas. There isn’t anything too visually exciting in this trailer, but what do you expect? Arnold on wires doing absurd stunts in front of green screens? The man just turned 65 years old! I’m stoked just to see him kicking ass and packing heat again.

The Last Stand opens on January 18, 2013.

Here’s the official synopsis:

Trailer

[Source: Apple]

Additional contributions by eelyajekiM.