Rating of
2.5/4
Action Heavy, Rambo Lite
Chris Kavan - wrote on 12/26/19
Sylvester Stallone is no stranger to revitalizing both action heroes (as with The Expendables) and classic characters he has portrayed on the big screen (as with Creed). You would think combining the two would mean a new Rambo - perhaps the last Rambo - would equal a home run. But in a bid to make Rambo relevant one last time, the Vietnam vet who has survived so many adventures is turned into a generic revenge thriller that, while having a pertinent story, fails to capture the essence of Rambo.
John Rambo (Stallone) has finally seemed to have settled down, becoming a surrogate father to Gabrielle (Yvette Monreal) on his late father's ranch with his close friend Maria Beltran (Adriana Barraza), Gabrielle's grandmother. Suffering from PTSD, we see he has an intricate set of tunnels beneath the ranch and he also has a forge he uses to excise his demons. When Gabrielle expresses a desire to track down her father in Mexico, he and Maria strongly object, as he essentially abandoned her and was also abusive towards her mother. But after urging from her one-time friend Gizelle (Fenessa Pineda) - a bad influence according to her grandmother - she leaves for Mexico. A meeting with her father, Manuel (Marco de la O) goes badly, and Gabrielle realizes her mistake and that she should stayed at home.
Gizelle takes Gabrielle to a club to unwind - but this proves to be her second mistake, as she finds herself at the mercy of the Martínez brothers Hugo (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) and Victor (Óscar Jaenada) who run a human trafficking ring. After learning she went to Mexico alone, Rambo confronts Manuel first, and then Gizelle, where he spots her wearing a bracelet dear to Gabrielle. Figuring out what happened, he goes to the same club and confronts a middle-man and tracks down the brothers, only to face an onslaught that leaves him barely alive. Journalist Carmen Delgado (Paz Vega) takes him in to recover - and tells him she lost her own sister to the group. Rambo vows to rescue Gabrielle, infiltrating a brothel only to find out he may be too late. Thus he starts down a path of bloody revenge - one that will transform his ranch, and the tunnels beneath, into a deadly maze of traps and ambushes.
The main problem with Rambo is not the story - in fact, I would say not enough films tackle the very real subject of human trafficking, a vile and abhorrent crime that seems like it is not brought to the forefront as often as it needs to be. The problem, that Rambo author David Morrell points out, is that this doesn't feel like a Rambo film - it feels like a generic, very violent, revenge film. Other than a brief flashback and the end credits (which features of montage of previous Rambo films) - the film barely touches on Rambo's past and includes no other references, character or otherwise, the the previous Rambo films.
The violence, as it stands, is very visceral and one could argue deserved, it also feels a bit gratuitous. Look, I realize this is Rambo and not Marvel, but his is also not Saw or Hostel - but based on the amount of blood and brains, you could forgive the mistake, especially during the grand finale. The film does have some heart, as it is clear Rambo has a very close connection to his surrogate family, but the characters never really develop enough that you feel the big emotions the film is obviously trying to convey. The film wants to be like Logan, but fails to capture the spirit of the character.
As a straight-up action film, Rambo works - but as an actual Rambo film, Last Blood fails. Stallone has said he might not retire the character yet - but hopefully if he does come back for one last ride, Rambo gets the sendoff he deserves.
