Sylvester Stallion’s latest attempt to revive his “Rambo” character with “Rambo: Last Blood” has ended up disappointing. Remembering those days with thrilling depiction of Rambo in those earlier sequels, Rambo: Last Blood (2019) made me doing this review. And it has to say that Stallion has really ended up bad with this 2019 reincarnation. Despite the gruesome fight scenes, characteristics of Rambo is missing. Though the tittle is a tricky choice for Stallion’s write-up, yet he could have wrap up much better. In compare to the Box Office collection of First Blood (1982), Last Blood is not even close. God saved, till now the $50 million budget is covered pretty much.
TimeSpek Rating: 6.0/10
Cast and Crew:
Director: Adrian Grunberg
Writers: Matthew Cirulnick, Sylvester Stallion, Dan Gordon
Casts: Sylvester Stallion as Rambo
Paz Vega as Carmen Delgado
Sergio Peris as Hugo Martinez
Adriana Barraza as Beltran
Yvette Monreal as Gabrielle
Rambo: Last Blood Story Line
‘Last Blood’ opens with a deadly flood in forest While Rambo saves a woman. Which I found completely disconnected to the story. Though it might signal John Rambo’s helping nature yet it was a bad opening.
On a ranch in Arizona, old Rambo is passing a good and peaceful life. He trains his horses and takes care of his adopted family, Old Maria and her college going granddaughter Gabrielle. He seems pretty comfortable seating on his wooden rocking chair, looking toward the wide land, and recalling his past from “Rambo III“. In few moments, audience understands that he might not be leading a tranquil life. To fight PTSD, he takes tons of pills and have nightmare sometimes.
He has dug out a tunnel system beneath his residential property where he keeps his guns, makes knives and other combat equipment. This might be keeping his Vietnam memories alive. He even confesses in the first scene with his daughter like Gabrielle saying, “I am just trying to keep a lid on it.”
In a point of time, Gabrielle expresses that she wants to go down to see her father in Mexico and wants to ask, why he left her. Rambo warns her not go in Mexico because it is one of the most horrible places to visit. Further she argued with her grandmother over the same issue and left home without informing anyone.
After crossing the border, she meets with her local contact who helped her finding her father’s address. Eventually, Gabrielle meets her biological father and leaves heart broken. Her local contact takes her to a nearby night club and she gets kidnapped by a sex trafficking gang controlled by ruthless Martinez brothers.
Rambo came to learn about Gabrielle lately and went down to Mexico and he meets her father and the local contact. Upon rescuing Gabrielle, Rambo reaches the sex traffickers nest and bitten badly. A local journalist named Carmen played by Paz Vega, who has been following him till the trail, rescues him badly injured. In the meantime, Martinez brothers, Victor and Hugo drugs Gabrielle and put her in a brothel. After a four days unconsciousness, Rambo wakes up and asks for help from Carmen. Carmen has also lost her younger sister because of Martinez brothers.
In the touch of the climax, he rescues Gabrielle with the most violent move. But on the way rushing home, she takes her last breath. Ultimately, Rambo gets back to Mexico to take vengeance and kills Victor Martinez in his residence. He gets back to his house in Arizona, starts preparing his tunnels and other corners of his house knowing that Hugo (Sergio Peris) will come looking for him.
Hugo gang breaks into US border and reach Rambo’s ranch. Eventually, in a ferocious battle, Rambo’s traps workers well and he is able to finish the entire gang including Hugo. Though he is badly injured but end up taking comfort on his rocking chair.
Rambo: Last Blood Analysis
Last Blood is obviously and undeniably a failed attempt by Stallion to reincarnate the old Rambo character. Adrian Grunberg has done gruesomely awful job with Sylvester Stallion’s write up. The star could set the story line better than this. Moreover, none of the characters are successful to show off their skills.
The first scene of the movie is totally rubbish, having no connection with the rest of the film. If Rambo could connect and write entire script in connection to the first scene, it could have been turned watchable. Apparently, we see him having a tranquil life but unsuccessfully trying to connect his memory of “First blood” and “Rambo III”. He seems like confused with his memories. Even it feels like he was gurgling through the depiction of nightmare that end up disgusting as well. In contrast, his present Rocky Balboa performance was better off because he has a better connection to previous.
From the beginning to the end, Mexico is presented as a country of rapist and murders, which is a bullshit. It seems like, Stallion has bought the theory of Donald Trump who labeled Mexicans as rapists, drug dealers and murderers. Therefore, I cannot help saying that this was a very racist attempt by Stallion. God knows he wanted to make Trump happy!
Action sequences are total messed up and dialogues are heavy handed which makes the movie even more dumb. During his first encounter with Martinez brothers, they put a “V” cut on his face. Ironically it stands for Vengeance though it initially stands for Victor. One thing doesn’t add up, why did he not take Gabrielle to hospital after the quick and violent rescue? Knowing that she is badly overdosed and raped over and over again, it was the demand of the story to take her right to hospital. Instead, he tried to take her direct home crossing the boarder. Is it because Mexican’s are rapist? Her death took him to break the boarder which seems very easy. I am utterly speechless when he broke the boarder net and reached home. Is it so easy to break US Boarder?
The story line gets more shittier when he goes back down to Mexico and kills Victor Martinez. Though he asked help from Carmen (Pag Vega) but I dint see any of her contribution. After he kills Victor, he comes home to prepare his Vietnam style rabbit hole, knowing that Hugo will come for vengeance. Now this is where Rambo: Last Blood fall into a “Joker” like madness with. This time, Mexican gang breaks the boarder without any notice and come all the way through Arizona.
Though the ending was catchy and the fight scenes were little better than other scenes, yet who the fuck does know that this day will come. After all that fighting, he sits back in his rocking chair two bullets might be signalling another sequel. Overall, this fifth installment of Rambo is an embarrassing and dumb work of cinema to watch. I would say that the story line, dialogues, direction, performances and screenplay all goes wrong and could be way better like its previous sequels.
