The Last Boy Scout is almost a parody of the grizzled, streetwise action flick, but it sticks to core genre tropes. Characters are defined by their personalities, flaws, and skills, not by modern identity markers. There’s no sign of forced representation or identity-first casting, so the story is unapologetically focused on gritty action and old-school banter.

Masculinity is front and center, our hero is tough, jaded, and full of hard lessons. Family ties, loyalty, and personal honor play out straight-faced. There's no subversion of gender roles or cheap shots at traditional values, it’s a time capsule of late-‘80s/early-‘90s action sensibility, blissfully unaware of 'woke' trends.

The film doesn’t spend time mocking or caricaturing dissenting voices. Everyone’s flawed, but the story doesn’t force any modern political consensus, and there’s no particular ideological soapbox. Instead, it gives viewers a classic buddy-cop dynamic with plenty of moral ambiguity. Refreshing, really.