I'm sure no one cares at this point, but I finally put my thoughts together.
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I?m going to break down my review into two angles because for me, my thoughts are very different depending on where you come at it from. I have feelings about this movie as a stand alone Rambo story, and I have feelings about it standing as very likely the final Rambo story.
Stand Alone
I?ve been thinking about the movie all day since I left the theater, and thinking on it, I feel like this film is very similar to Rambo 2 in terms of Rambo?s core story. Rambo 2 finds John in a seemingly good place mentally. Sure he is in a prison, but as he says, in there, he knows where he stands, whereas on the outside, he doesn?t know his place in the world now. To me, that?s where Rambo is at the start of this movie, he?s found a place where he can feel he belongs, and it?s isolated from the rest of the world. From there, the specific events he endures differ a little, but are somewhat similar, he?s tortured and scarred in Rambo 2, here he?s beaten to the point of concussion and scarred, and in both cases, in the end, that which he holds onto as hope for a life away from the evils of the world, Co and Gabriella, are taken away from him forever. What follows in both cases is a trail of revenge, culminating with Rambo facing off one on one with the person who set the horrible chain of events in motion for him, only in Rambo 2 he showed restraint because he found use for Murdock, but here, there was no good and he dispensed with his antagonist.
While trailers and photos were hard to view as Rambo and not just old Sly, I feel Stallone gave a solid performance and tapped more into the cynicism that Rambo was living with in Rambo 4. Even the smallest actions felt more like Rambo than just Stallone in an action film, so while I missed the bandana and long hair, it didn?t impact feeling like I was watching a Rambo film.
While the gore in this one definitely went above Rambo 4 in how graphic it was, I would say the overall amount felt equal or even less than Rambo 4, at least to me, I was expecting the movie to be a bloody mess.
I thought the plot line worked, though the overall pacing of the movie felt a bit too fast at times, where Rambo 4 had a better overall pace. This was definitely all about Rambo being Rambo, much less time spent developing the real world troubles being depicted and giving Gabriella more meaningful value to the story, like Sarah in 4, they really did a lot with her to make her relevant overall. Granted she was part of the story longer, but still.
One thing I really liked in this film was the showcase of Rambo?s intelligence, probably the best depiction of it since First Blood. Rambo 2-4 were really a showcase of his skills, but here we got to see how strong his mind can be, as he said in Rambo 2, the mind is the best weapon. There was a lot of emphasis in Mexico of him sizing up the situation, surveying the area, etc., I loved when he played dumb while the two cartel brothers were talking and didn?t flinch until they insulted Gabriella and then he showed his hand that he understood them all along. The trap setting at the ranch was fantastic and very methodical, and I didn?t even fully realize how he?d use them, like popping out of the ground like a golpher all over the yard.
Finale
So now the second angle to look at this movie from, how does it stand as an end to the series and character?s story.
I think you have to break down where each film has left off prior to see how it fits, because truthfully, any one of them could have been the end, it could have never gone past First Blood technically.
First Blood
He starts the movie as an outcast trying to find a place in the world post war, loses it when he?s mistreated one time too many, and ultimately ends up arrested with no good outcome for his troubles.
Rambo 2
He starts the movie in prison, removed from society, feels he has a place in the world, even if it?s not ideal, get used and betrayed by representatives of his government, and in the end, is basically left without a country or anywhere to go.
Rambo 3
He starts the movie looking for peace in a Buddhist monestary, gives it up to save his friend, and in the end returns to the world with his friend (presumably).
Rambo 4
He starts the movie living in Thailand hiding out where he feels he can escape the ugly side of the world, then faces it to rescue innocent missionaries and ultimately returns to his childhood home after running for decades.
Rambo 5
He starts the movie living a civilian life back home, still keeping a distance from most of society, loses the one glimmer of a life beyond war and the ugliness of the world, snaps and unloads all of his built up anger and rides off into the sunset.
So I?ve seen a number of folks here talk about how they wished a better ending for Rambo, but when you look back on it, Rambo 4 is the only movie to leave him in a good place, the first 3 movies never ended well.
To me it raises a discussion, was Rambo 4 a fitting ending, or was it an ending this character was never meant for.
Prior to Last Blood, I loved the symetry of Rambo?s introduction being his journey to find a place in the world and the end being his finding a place. Because it?s so balanced, I really felt like it should be the end, there?s no NEED to tell any more Rambo stories.
Now Last Blood comes along and says, he didn?t really find peace, peace is temporary, don?t get used to it, always be ready for a fight of some kind.
I guess for me the weakness of this film as an end to the story is that his future was very unclear. Pre-credits, you think he may die, post credits you see he rides off. As I mentioned before, there are parallels with Rambo 2 and the end here is very similar to that, ok, he walks off or rides off, where too, what will he do. I never experienced Rambo 2 without Rambo 3, so I don?t know how I would have felt then, but I just wish his future were more clear here. Rambo 3?s ending made me think he was going to go back with Trautman and stay part of the military, that he?d realized it?s his place. Rambo 4, again, what was he going to do back home, no idea, but I felt like his days as a soldier or warrior were over.
The take away here seems to be that once a warrior, always a warrior, and he will spend the rest of his days fighting and doing what he can to make sure those he?s lost were not for nothing.
It?s not a bad end, that he will never retire and will be a warrior until he dies, but at the same time, his journey started off in such a bad place, at least in Rambo 4, it ended on a positive note, like yes, what happened to him in the past was horrible but it doesn?t mean things can?t turn around.
The only message I take away from Last Blood is that war and such can take a very serious toll on a person, and sometimes recovering from it is not easy or even possible, but not to give up on life, there is always a purpose in it, and we should stop fighting and subjecting our friends and brothers and sisters and children to these horrors and putting them through such a thing.
Conclusion
Last Blood is a great Rambo film that falls flat as a finale but at least gives us a story where the character is still at his best and doesn?t go Rocky 5 where everything that made you want to watch movies with this character is taken away or tainted.
