In the final installment of the action film franchise, the late Treat Williams goes up against a Neo-Nazi military school group, from the director of Best of the Best.

Karl Thomasson and a friend have completed a mission where kids ended up the ones who tried to kill them. Thomasson sees a tattoo branded on one of the would-be killers. Upon his return home, he meets with old friend General Teague, who is serving on the board of a local military school. Teague tells Karl that his nephew Ted has joined the school’s elite group, the Werewolf unit, led by new school commandant J.C. Brack. However, something doesn’t feel right and Teague asks Karl to go undercover as a substitute teacher for the Military History class.

Upon arriving at the school, Karl reunites with former Army buddy Garrett Devlin, who is the school’s martial arts coach. Soon enough, Karl finds himself under fire from Cadet Commander Buckner, who leads the Werewolf unit as second in command. Brack also has two drill sergeants, Van and Lim. Together with Luther, the school janitor and former military officer himself as well as Jenny, the school’s nurse, Karl seeks for clues to delve deep in the Werewolf unit with one thing in mind: complete destruction.

Treat Williams makes his final outing as mercenary turned teacher Karl Thomasson in this fourth and final installment, directed by Robert Radler. Knowing that this would be final film, why not go out with a bang? The reason this is said because this boasts one of the best ensemble cast since the original film, in which Tom Berenger’s Shale was the “substitute”.

Aside from Williams, Angie Everhart plays Julie, the military school nurse who acts as a somewhat Yojimbo in the film. The reason is because while it’s clear she has a thing for Karl, she has some loyalty to our main villain Brack, played by the always great Patrick Kilpatrick. The best thing about Kilpatrick as a villain is that he doesn’t have the need to ever go over the top until a film’s final moments and it is no different here.  There always tends to be the one character you can’t stand and can’t wait to get theirs and in this film, it has to go to Cadet Commander Bruckner, played by Scott Miles. He just oozes that look that makes you want to hit him.

Playing Brack’s drill sergeants are two action icons. Van is played by David Leitch, who would be later known for his work on John Wick and Bullet Train just to name a few and Lim is played by martial arts icon Simon Rhee, who also serves as the film’s stunt and fight coordinator. Once again, Rhee makes Williams look impressive in the fight scenes, even going one on one with his protégé in a terrific fight scene. We even get to see an unlikely ally in Bill Nunn’s Luther while Tim Abell also makes a great ally in Karl’s old buddy Devlin, who provides a bit of comic relief at times throughout the film, especially the final moments.

The Substitute 4: Failure is Not an Option is a great final installment of the franchise with Treat Williams showcasing why he was one of the best in the business. While he is no longer with us, his memory will live on in films such as this one. The supporting cast are top notch as well here.

WFG RATING: A-

An Artisan Entertainment production. Director: Robert Radler. Producer: Robert Radler. Writer: Dan Gurskis; based on characters created by Roy Frumkes, Rocco Simonelli, and Alan Ormsby. Cinematography: Richard Rawlings. Editing: Lou Angelo.

Cast: Treat Williams, Angie Everhart, Patrick Kilpatrick, Bill Nunn, Tim Abell, Grayson Fricke, Simon Rhee, Scott Miles, David Leitch, Samantha Thomas,  J. Don Ferguson.