In the latest of careers revived due to the "Expendibles" franchise, I present to you "Rambo 5: Last Blood". On one hand, I can see an entertaining, mindless couple of hours of "bang" and "boom". On the other hand-- Really?
He should give it a rest. Rocky Balboa was a worthy send off for the character, a film that had many of the same qualities of the first Rocky movie however that can't be said for the last Rambo movie which was just bad. I hope Last Blood will do for Rambo what Rocky Balboa did for Rocky, i just don't have faith in it.
Didn't Rambo go home at the end of the last one, to his family's house? Jesus, I hope it's not set there. That's all we need right now, Rambo on the loose in America again. I really don't see that as an option at all, but if the finale to Rocky was to bring him full circle, then that's kind of full circle for Rambo, isn't it? My point being... that at the beginning of this, there was a guy at odds with the authorities at home. How do you not reflect on that if you're rounding out the character in some way, & calling the finale "Last Blood"?
I've enjoyed ALL the Rambo movies, and I wouldn't be opposed to another sequel if the last didn't already end it on a good note. I know audiences were split on the last one, but I liked it. And the ending with Rambo coming home was a good sendoff for the character. But hey, as long as it's entertaining---which is what Rambo is all about---I'm for it.
I seem to recall that after the ending of the previous film had him returning home, that there was already a script in the works or finished for the final film, which would be set years later when Rambo has finally found some peace and settled down with a wife and possibly a child living on his father's ranch in Arizona(?), only to get mixed up with a drug cartel or coyotes involved in human trafficking that kidnap his family, so he has to get them back. I don't know if that script is still in play or if it's been scrapped (it's pretty much Taken) or if I'm mus-remembering, but I think the conflict in the film will more likely be along those lines than Rambo fighting local authorities again.
I'm always going to have a soft spot for Rambo: First Blood Part II. For my pre-teen self, there was nothing more adventurous than this movie. And with the video games, toys, cartoons and all that added merchandise??? Forget about it, I was in a total mid 1980s nirvana.
At least Rambo 2 and especially Rambo 3 were that bad that it got tons of quote potential. To this day whenever someone spots a blue light we launch into the legendary Blue Light "dialogue" from Rambo 3 However Rambo 4 had none of these qualities, it was just beating a dead horse (with the exception of a realistic portrayal what happens when a human body gets hit by .50 cal machine gun fire, that was just brutal).
The previous one felt more like the first part of a proper ending than a full ending. The last story should be set in the US like the original. It would be nice to learn more about his past. See him as a real person and not just a killing machine.
I don't think Stallone is too old, because he is in awesome shape for his age, and I liked Rocky Balboa, John Rambo, Expendables and Grudge Match. But he should really give Rambo a rest. Rambo's story came full circle with the 4th one. Just leave it there.
I'm pro this film. Be nice to see him back on American soil after being estranged for so long. Get some redemption of self & especially if it's John fighting drug cartels and coyotes on the border. I see where Sly can give Rambo the same type of full circle closure in Last Blood that Balboa did for Rocky. I'm not super keen on Rocky being used though in Creed, even in the limited role of trainer. Balboa wrapped it up nice, regardless of the intent Creed will still likely be seen as Rocky 7 by proxy. After Last Blood perhaps an Expendables 4 send off for Barney Ross as well. Undo the damage of that series for a proper send off film.
Well, yes and no. Yes, he was unjustly harrassed by the townsfolk, but the point of First Blood was largely that his violent response was excessive, that he'd been turned into a killer who didn't know how to be anything else, and was then returned home to a society that ostracized him for being what they'd turned him into rather than trying to cure him of it. He was intended to be more a victim than a hero, which is why the film ended with his surrender (and why the book ended with his death). The sequel totally missed and subverted the point by treating Rambo's violence as a heroic action to be glorified and celebrated. That's just the kind of attitude that the original story was condemning by showing the damage it did to the human psyche.