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| Sylvester Stallone's Vietnam hero's arguably becoming a Halloween-type revenge-set human ghoul is obvious in this stylized, great poster for Adrian Grünberg's Rambo: Last Blood |
Vietnam veteran John Rambo has build a quiet life for himself on his Arizona ranch, but as a step-father for young woman Gabrielle, he now must alert himself to new strife, as she insists on exploring her alienated father in Mexico.
Rambo: Last Blood is written by Matthew Cirulnick (Paid in Full (2002)) and co-writer/star Sylvester Stallone (F.I.S.T (1978)), with Dan Gordon (The Hurricane (1999)) supplying story elements, and directed by Adrian Grünberg (Get the Gringo (2012)). It is the 5th film in the Rambo franchise that has previous chapters; First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988) and Rambo (2008).
Stallone returns with impressive physique, especially since he is 73 years old today, and his face is a chapter in itself; the hang-dog expression, bulges and furrows that make him look like no other 73 year-old: certainly a life of training, violence (most of it staged), steroids and who knows what cosmetic alterations have made Stallone's face unique to the point where he almost appears a new Halloween monster, right up there with Karloff's Mummy, Dracula and Freddy Krueger.
The first scenes show us that Rambo still feels impelled to help out his fellow man when possible, saving a young woman in a raging storm on a mountain. His life with live-in maid Maria and adoptive daughter Gabrielle is as close to idyllic as this traumatized killing machine will ever get. But Rambo lives mostly in his dirt cave system underneath the ranch, a clue to understanding the depths of his knowledge of human darkness.
Gabrielle's rebellious trip to Mexico doesn't end well, (the film teaches us to never trust anyone by the name Gizelle, and also shows us that all Mexican men, (which are almost restricted to cops and cartel gangsters in Rambo: Last Blood), are violent, misogynistic rapists. SPOILER Rambo tries to save Gabrielle but the gangsters' evil claims her life, apparently necessary for the elaborately creative death-trap plans that Rambo then sets up at his ranch, luring evil home for his bloody reckoning.
No one expects a masterpiece with Rambo V. And there are plenty of things to wonder about and half-way flaws in the writing: Where is the violent rainstorm, when Rambo has ridden back to his ranch on his horse? Why does a casual line from one of the villains about 17,000 girls trafficked by them in a year not get followed up? How did the convoy of armed villains drive straight into the US and to Rambo's ranch? And so on and so forth.
These objections are not too important, but what does impede the film are other elements: Paz Vega (Not Forgotten (2009)) is a Mexican journalist, who lost her sister to the cartel and who helps Rambo, - but then leaves the story again. The main cartel villains are two brothers, but as characters and villains they are wholly forgettable. Gabrielle's ordeal and the story on the whole could have done with some more brains; clever writing and unforeseen developments are not Rambo: Last Blood's main forte. But it brings the violent carnage that its pulpy title promises and is still better than the franchise's lowest ebb quality-wise, Rambo III.
Related post:
Adrian Grünberg: Get the Gringo/How I Spent My Summer Vacation (2012) - Mexico is just a little merrier with Mel Gibson
Stallone talks about the film in a 3-minute video here
Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown yet
= Unknown yet
[Rambo: Last Blood premiered 18 September (Indonesia) and runs 89 minutes. Pre-production was started and stopped several times with different plot ideas since the flop of Rambo (2008). Shooting took place in Bulgaria and Spain from October - December 2018. The film is opening against other major releases Ad Astra and Downtown Abbey. It is opening next week in France, Chile, Colombia, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Portugal and Spain and in Argentina 10 October. Talks of the Rambo franchise's future, coming from Stallone, center on a prequel about the character before and during his time as a soldier in the Vietnam War, which may or may not come to fruition. Grünberg does not have an announced next directing gig. Stallone is announced to star in 3 upcoming films; Tough as They Come, The Expendables 4 and Scarpa. Rambo: Last Blood is rotten at 36 % with a 4.58/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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