Iconic
big screen Vietnam War veteran and
one man war-machine John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has had quite a checkered
past since the character first emerged in 1972 in David Morrell’s novel First Blood. We first meet Mr. Rambo on film in 1982 as a
PTSD victim being harassed by locals which trigger his own psychological
wartime demons. After the film proved to
be a box office hit, Rambo was then reinvented as an escapist entertainment
vehicle in the subsequent three sequels with Rambo as a superhuman
soldier. The last time we saw the one
man wrecking-crew singlehandedly wipe out an entire army was in the 2008 fourth
film Rambo which poised him against
the Burmese infantry.
It
has been eleven years since we saw John Rambo return home presumably to hang
his hat after four movies of hard battling, but Sylvester Stallone wasn’t ready
to call it quits just yet…until now.
After years of the project being cancelled on and off, Stallone’s Rambo
is back for one last hurrah with Rambo:
Last Blood. Stepping down from the
director’s chair with newcomer Adrian Grunberg helming the action packed
thriller, we find John Rambo on a desperate mission to rescue his kidnapped
niece from the ruthless Mexican cartel who sold her to human trafficking.
Having
just seen the Mexican cartel bulldoze over just about everyone in Nicolas
Winding Refn’s Too Old to Die Young,
it was refreshing to see John Rambo doling the pain and punishment right back
though much like the Death Wish movies,
the adversaries here are cannon fodder waiting to die at Rambo’s hands. What separates this one from the pack,
however, is the location, with Rambo instead choosing to wage war on his own
turf rather than overseas. Rambo’s look
also changes considerably in this one, sporting a shorter clean haircut and
having a better handle on his still alive-and-well demons than before.
Visually
the film does a good job recreating the Mexican border and Rambo’s home with
cavernous hidden tunnels is transformed from a homely estate to a death trap
littered with mines and sharp knives.
Stallone also always has room to deliver an emotional monologue that
will bring you down to his level of anger and sadness, much like the very first
film. Also Jerry Goldsmith's iconic Rambo theme music will always tug at the heartstrings every time you hear it.
That
said, as a fan of these films I still prefer Rambo which gave viewers one final look at the character as people
have always known him, with long hair and a bandana. Rambo
also had a stronger political message than the new film whose conflict more or
less stokes a personal fire within the character rather than fighting for
something greater than himself. Fans
like myself won’t be disappointed by the action and violent bloodshed being
served up but it’s not nearly as potent as what Mr. Stallone unleashed eleven
years ago.
--Andrew Kotwicki
