Rambo: Last Blood Is A Disappointing Finale And Unworthy Sequel That Betrays The Franchise

      When one thinks of long-lasting action movie franchises, the Rambo franchise is one that immediately comes to mind as its legacy spans a total of 37 years on film. Beginning in 1982 and spawning a total of four films, the Rambo franchise is one that stood as being one of the dominant action movie franchise of the 1980's, and was later rebooted with his gritty fourth sequel made in 2008 titled Rambo. The series peaked early in regards to quality with the first film. First Blood was not only thrilling but introduced a new type of action hero to audiences named John Rambo, an ex-Vietnam veteran with Stallone easily delivering his strongest acting performance next to Rocky. The franchise peaked in terms of popularity with Rambo: First Blood Part ll with the sequel being bigger than the first film at the box office though being less strong in terms of quality. Despite it's faults, it further cemented Rambo as being a force to be reckoned with as the definitive action hero in 1980's Reagan era. The Rambo story arc reached its temporary conclusion with 1987's Rambo lll, which ended up being the least strongest entry in the series thus far, putting the iconic action movie franchise to bed for 21 years until Stallone revived it with the much improved and violent 4th installment in the series. The fourth film succeeded in taking the character out of the 80's era and placing him in today's political climate, while adding a darker and grittier tone that not only matches the first film, but also showcased excessive violence which extended beyond what the franchise previously showed up until that point. With the release of Last Blood, Stallone takes the series one step further with the story now being focused on Rambo's family members as well as those who wish to do harm on them, particularly his niece. While designed to be more of a personal take on the legendary character in a style similar to Logan, Rambo: Last Blood feels like a bold experiment that unfortunately goes terribly wrong. The film ultimately feels like a betrayal of the franchise as a whole with the movie having little to almost nothing to do with the previous films.

      The plot for Rambo: Last Blood centers around an older John Rambo (Played by Sylvester Stallone) returning to the only place he can call home, a family ranch in Arizona. He uses his time there to not only train the horses on the ranch but also to control his PTSD from his past experiences in combat. His peace away from War and violence is short-lived when he's forced into combating Mexican sex traffickers, who end kidnap his adoptive niece (Played by Yvette Monreal). The main problem with the synopsis for the fifth (And hopefully last) installment in the Rambo series, is that the story feels less like a Rambo movie and more like a copy and paste version of Taken with Sylvester Stallone in the main role instead of Liam Neeson. Last Blood as a whole feels off from what the franchise has represented up until this point with the sequel exploring a side of Rambo, that was never revealed before nor mentioned in any of the previous movies, ultimately making it feel awkward that so much emphasis is placed upon his family. Gone from the story is the anti-authority and anti-war message of the classic original with the new film delivering a message that says people don't really change even if they grow old. In the context of the films message, the story itself works but in regards to the rest of the series, Last Blood simply doesn't fit with the others and feels like it belongs in a different action movie series. The character of Rambo in this one feels off compared to the way he was presented in the previous films, particularly 2008's movie. Audiences don't particularly get the feeling that he's fighting to control his PTSD in this one as it's rarely emphasized in the story, and his character feels much weaker in this film compared to the strength he demonstrated in Rambo IV (The real Rambo wouldn't allow a group of cartels to beat the living crap out of him and carve his face in an effort to get his niece back. He would've been calculated about it, had a backup plan, and had the situation examined using his old War experiences). It feels with Last Blood, Stallone was trying to craft his own Logan-style exit for the character though it goes against the message of what the rest of the series represents, which has always placed a heavy emphasis on the harsh realities of war. The series which has gone from being a story revolving around one man's struggle to leave the War behind him, has been boiled down to a generic Taken style action movie that would work much better if it was in a different franchise

      As far as the films acting performances go, Sylvester Stallone once again delivers a strong and commanding performance as John Rambo. His performance is easily his strongest work in the series next to First Blood, despite his character not exactly feeling like he's struggling to control his PTSD in this one. Part of what made the character of Rambo so thrilling in the previous movies, was that the audience knew John was smarter than the bad guys he was going up against and couldn't help but laugh on the inside knowing that they didn't realize who they were dealing with. With Last Blood, the audience never really gets that feeling with him even when he goes for his revenge. Stallone brings to the screen a more human side of John Rambo, that isn't an unlikable portrayal but doesn't feel like the Rambo audiences rooted for when he was trying to escape from the control of an cruel police chief and his deputies. While Stallone's work here won't win him any Academy Awards (He was snubbed of an Oscar nomination for the original film, especially with the performance he gave in that films stunning final scene), he likely ends his arc of playing Rambo with both class and dignity regardless of how the audience feels about the story. The rest of the cast delivers solid performances, though they don't hold the screen the same way Stallone carries the film with his character. Yvette Monreal shines as John's niece Gabriela, despite her character feeling poorly written making her come across as being the clueless yet generic teenager, who often foolishly get themselves into trouble. She succeeds though in making the audience somewhat care about her character when she gets taken by the cartels. Paz Vega does well playing Carmen Delgado, a mysterious woman revealed to be a journalist tracking the sex trafficking ring, that's being run by the local Mexican cartel. Vega ends up becoming an ally to Rambo, helping him seek revenge on those who took his niece. Sergio-Peris-Mencheta delivers an effective performance as the films main antagonist along with Oscar Jaenada, though audiences will find it extremely hard to believe that these characters serve as a threat to someone like John Rambo considering the past enemies he faced. Adriana Barraza shines in her performance as Maria Beltran, long-time employee of the Rambo family farm. The cast as a whole delivers strong performances overall while doing their best to compensate for the awkward storyline being passed as a Rambo movie.

      In terms of directing duties, Adrian Grunberg takes over the directorial reigns from Sylvester Stallone after the fourth film helming what's essentially meant to be the final chapter in the John Rambo saga. Grunberg directs a more concentrated and character-driven story, that would make for a solid entry in the Taken franchise. The film is shorter than its previous entries yet moves at a slower-pace (Mainly due to the films off beat story), lacking the well-staged action sequences of its predecessor along with the tension built up with the audience waiting in anticipation for the character of Rambo to strike against his opponent. Not only does the films storyline feel off for the series, but so does its style and setting. Last Blood comes across as feeling more like a Western film than the jungle feel/War-torn locations the previous films had. The film retains the grit and gore of Rambo IV, though sprinkles both throughout the film to enhance the shock value of the violence. In terms of the films tone, Grunberg directs a film that is downright brutal from start to finish with Rambo experiencing loss and grief right from the start with the films intense opening sequence, that's followed by elements showing sex-trafficking, torture, murder, forced drug-addiction, and revenge. It's not a question of whether Adrian Grunberg was the right person to helm a Rambo film (Clearly he is), the main issue with the film appears to be the script. Despite the film not truly feeling like a Rambo film on a visual style, Last Blood for the most part is a well-shot action film with decent performances and strong cinematography.

     The films screenplay by Matthew Cirulnick and Sylvester Stallone with a story written by Dan Gordon, feels uninspired and out of place with the rest of the series. The film feels like a rip-off of 2008's Taken mixed with a touch of Home Alone with Rambo's character setting up traps around his farm during his climactic face-off with the cartel gang. The film as a whole feels rushed with Rambo never truly feeling like he's combating his PTSD nor finding his peace at the end. The side characters all feel like generic tropes for the most part, that only serve to move the story forward rather than breathing life of their own. The villains aren't really convincing either as being among the truest baddies in the series. The end scene with Rambo feels like a cop out in a way neither fully closing the door on the series but not leaving it wide open either. The writers wrote the ending of this story to go either way depending on the films success, though if this is what Stallone and the creative team have in store for the future of the Rambo franchise, its probably for the best that John's story ends here. The film is so rushed that major subplots in the film come and go without the audience feeling much emotion towards them, particularly a big twist midway into the film that's meant to send Rambo off the edge once again. The plot for Last Blood feels like a desperate attempt to continue the series as well as being a misguided attempt to end the franchise on an epic note with Rambo's version of Logan. Gone from the series are all the cartoonish violence as well as the lessons of War the other Rambo films delivered with what's presented here is a plot that the creator of Rambo, David Morrell, calls unapologetically "messy" and ultimately expressed embarrassment to be associated with the new film as it detours from everything the series built up prior. Looking at the end result of Last Blood, one can see exactly why and doesn't blame him.

      Rambo: Last Blood is not the ending the Rambo franchise deserves and ultimately feels out of place for both the series and the character as a whole. Stallone stated that the movie was designed to show that Rambo had finally found his peace after all those years on the battlefield. Watching the film however, one doesn't get that impression here as all his character experiences is more loss, tragedy, and moments that would give him more PTSD. This isn't the Rambo that audiences cared about in First Blood nor the action hero that audiences fantasized about with the sequels. The Rambo in this film feels much different than what fans have been accustomed to, and has lost both the thrill and unpredictability regarding his character. For a franchise that has both captivated and thrilled audiences for over three decades, both the series and fans deserve a much better sound off for such a legendary character. Rambo: Last Blood isn't horrible but it's no Rocky Balboa in terms of delivering a grand slam finish to it's characters arc. It falls in the category of being a large disappointment, that ends the Rambo series with a whimper. One hopes that this is the final installment in the Rambo series as the franchise has lost the message the previous films carried regarding War and recovery.

Final Verdict: If you're a fan of the Rambo series, skip this one as it will leave you hugely disappointed with how they potentially end the series.