Review: Rambo: Last Blood

Recently released on DVD/BLu-ray is Rambo: Last Blood, the 5th and most likely last movie in the Rambo movie franchise. If you are looking for a movie with an interesting plot with twists and turns, look elsewhere. An emotional experience that pulls at the old heart strings? Nope. Keep moving, buddy. How about at least some character development like Rambo realizing the errors of his ways and tries to make up for it? Uh-uh. Not even that. But come on. Would anyone of us really expect any of that from a Rambo movie? After all, at the height of his popularity, this character is known for wearing bullet straps as a shirt. And as long as we keep that in mind, this movie successfully delivers what we should all expect from a movie about John Rambo.

From the opening scenes, we learn that John Rambo has removed himself from his troubled past and is now living in relative solitude on a small ranch. The only people in Rambo's life is his niece Gabrielle and his house keeper Maria. Gabrielle never really knew her father as he left her at a very young age, but she has always wanted to find him. And thanks to help from a friend in Mexico, she was finally able to learn his whereabouts and headed across the border to track him down. However, not only did Gabrielle have her heart broken after finally confronting her father, but she also ended up getting kidnapped by a prostituion ring. Once news reached back home that Gabrielle went missing while in Mexico, Rambo immediately headed there to rescue her in classic Rambo style.

The plot of the movie is definitely not unqiue in any way. In fact, it almost mimics the smash hit Liam Neeson flick Taken. Yet, that doesn't mean this latest Sylvester Stallone film isn't worth checking out. Because what this film lacks in originality in the plot, there was plenty of original action sequences. Ironically, they didn't involve any of the traditional facets like car chases or science fiction elements. Instead, we saw Rambo do away with his victims in new and creative ways. Unfortunately, that aspect probably repelled a good portion of the audience, because it involved a lot of graphic violence. But at the same time, that is also what made the film stand out. It just reduces the appeal of the film to a niche audience. If you belong to that ninche, though, the film can be quite entertaining.

As previously mentioned, the plot of the film is not unique. In fact, as strange as this may sound, a portion of the film strongly reminded me of Home Alone. But instead of Kevin booby trapping his home with household items, Rambo built deadly traps on his proprty that maim his victims in various ways. Again, many may find these scenes to be overly gory, but I was impressed with the creativity behind them. Despite having watched countless films in the action genre, the imaginative use of CGI/special effects in this film produced impactful visuals that I haven't seen on screen before.

Rambo: Last Blood is definitely not the type of movie for everyone. It is gruesome, grisly, and even savage. But for those who appreciate original (albeit barbarous) action sequences, this movie might be right up your alley. Regardless of whether you feel this movie went over the line or not, though, it does tie up the story of John Rambo nicely. Assuming Last Blood is indeed the last movie in the franchise, we finally get a satisfying ending for a pop culture icon than has spanned almost 40 years.