Rambo: Last Blood (2019) **
The world did not need another Rambo film. The fourth entry in the series, Rambo (2008), was a perfectly fitting end to the character. That film served simultaneously as a hyper-violent good time and a tonally well-balanced entry in the series. Rambo: Last Blood (2019) is none of the above. Rambo III (1988) has largely been considered the worst in the series, attempting to up the over-the-top nature of Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), while becoming cartoonish in the process, but Last Blood is a much worse film.
By scaling back the action and the cause (Rambo's sort-of-niece gets kidnapped and his rescue mission leads to a mini-war with a Mexican cartel), the indication might be given that the series is hearkening back to its roots—First Blood (1982) is a decidedly small and more personal film compared to the rest of the franchise. But Last Blood is really just a generic action film—poorly plotted, sloppily edited, and unremarkably directed, with cookie cutter characters and a forgettable score. Honestly, it feels like a bargain bin B-movie that Stallone shoehorned the John Rambo character into. Very few beats even tie Rambo back to any previous events from the earlier films.
Half-hearted attempts are made to assign the same sort of emotional weight present in films like Logan (2017) and Unforgiven (1992), but Last Blood just ends up being an ultraviolent updated version of The Searchers (1956) and feels derivative of all of those aforementioned films. As to any political scruples that viewers have about this film (racism, xenophobia, etc.), I ask the question—have you actually seen the other films in the franchise? The John Rambo character (and the series writ large) has always been "patriotic" and "American"—Rambo lays waste to bad people in other countries in all but the first film and the series has always been under fire politically. That it happens to be Mexico this time and the fact that Trump wants his wall isn't lost on me, but Rambo: First Blood Part II was no different in the age of Ronald Reagan. Personally, I just enjoy these flicks as popcorn pleasures (and the first film is actually a good drama as well).
While there are some fun kills for those that like that sort of thing in their action films, Last Blood is neither a good action film nor a good Rambo film and it's easily the worst film of the year in this viewer's opinion.
By scaling back the action and the cause (Rambo's sort-of-niece gets kidnapped and his rescue mission leads to a mini-war with a Mexican cartel), the indication might be given that the series is hearkening back to its roots—First Blood (1982) is a decidedly small and more personal film compared to the rest of the franchise. But Last Blood is really just a generic action film—poorly plotted, sloppily edited, and unremarkably directed, with cookie cutter characters and a forgettable score. Honestly, it feels like a bargain bin B-movie that Stallone shoehorned the John Rambo character into. Very few beats even tie Rambo back to any previous events from the earlier films.
Half-hearted attempts are made to assign the same sort of emotional weight present in films like Logan (2017) and Unforgiven (1992), but Last Blood just ends up being an ultraviolent updated version of The Searchers (1956) and feels derivative of all of those aforementioned films. As to any political scruples that viewers have about this film (racism, xenophobia, etc.), I ask the question—have you actually seen the other films in the franchise? The John Rambo character (and the series writ large) has always been "patriotic" and "American"—Rambo lays waste to bad people in other countries in all but the first film and the series has always been under fire politically. That it happens to be Mexico this time and the fact that Trump wants his wall isn't lost on me, but Rambo: First Blood Part II was no different in the age of Ronald Reagan. Personally, I just enjoy these flicks as popcorn pleasures (and the first film is actually a good drama as well).
While there are some fun kills for those that like that sort of thing in their action films, Last Blood is neither a good action film nor a good Rambo film and it's easily the worst film of the year in this viewer's opinion.
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