Rambo: Last Blood
I don’t think this was made directly for streaming because it’s a 2019 film, but it is a good example of “second screen syndrome”. That is a movie created with a certain blandness that makes it easy to sorta kinda watch the film while you’re also watching TikTok on your phone. I hadn’t intended to review it, because it was so lame compared to the others, but I wanted to comment on the decline of a film series legend. I’ve seen all the Rambo movies except the 2008 one, which I didn’t know existed until last night.
The original movie, Rambo: First Blood was a shocker for the American people, because it starred a very popular action hero star (Sylvester Stallone) playing a character they didn’t expect. Especially toward the end of the Vietnam War, returning soldiers were often vilified, sometimes to the point of being spit on and called “baby killers” as they stepped off the plane. The government pretty well abandoned them and a lot of them became a new class of emotionally broken citizens who continued to be looked down on by the general population and often poorly portrayed on tv and in the movies. Rambo had long hair and travelled the country doing odd jobs. He also had a world class case of PTSD. After being assaulted by a power tripping local sheriff, he loses his mind and blows up a bunch of stuff.
What made this movie a classic is a couple of things. It defied expectation and made the freaky Vietnam vet the HERO. I believe it also began the ongoing theme of government trained elite soldier sticking it to the bad guys, even if they are The Government. It also portrayed small town sheriffs as corrupt demigods, not unusual in itself in that period, but also showed the National Guard as a bunch of lazy, cowardly misfits. That was new. Everyone knew it, but you weren’t supposed to mention it in polite society. All of these things made the movie really stand out and people started shifting away from the old standards of hero. It was a strong political statement that subverted standard culture of the time.
The next three Rambo films also had political statements, going back to Vietnam to rescue forgotten prisoners of war, fighting with our allies the Mujahedeen (cringe) against the evil Russians (ooops), then going back to Southeast Asian jungles to fight more bad guys. Every new iteration was a little weaker. Stallone got older, recognizing who is actually a bad guy got more confusing, and the action hero genre outpaced Rambo.
The latest Rambo finds him peacefully horse training on the family ranch, which he shares with a housekeeper and her granddaughter. He considers them his family, of course, because Rambo is just a big ole softie at heart. He does have a major system of tunnels under the ranch, where he can go to play 60s music, sharpen lethal wooden stakes, and have private freakouts from lingering PTSD. The granddaughter sneaks off to Mexico, because she’s young and stupid, and ignores uncle Rambo and her grandmother telling her that going is a bad idea. Terrible things happen, Rambo – as always – gets tortured by the bad guys and then they all have a shootout at the Rambo Underground OK Corral. I don’t mind saying all this, because the grand shootout at the end is one of the big draws for this franchise.
So, how can this be a “second screen syndrome” movie? We can begin with little things, like it being shot entirely on digital. There is no lush color and sharp focus. It looks like a cheap Hallmark romance, enhanced by lackluster directing and weak writing. Stallone, who by this time is way too old for this kind
of film basically glowers at everyone, even the horse he’s training, and kills a lot of people in interesting ways. Sometimes those ways mimic Vietnam War methods, which I found interesting. This time there is no interesting or even shocking political statement. I don’t know anyone who thinks sex trafficking cartels are ever good guys. That was the biggest problem. It’s just another by-the-numbers revenge flick now. Rambo, with his North Vietnamese style war tunnels, is just an old guy fighting universally hated bad guys. Also, why does the horse wrangling stunt double look obviously decades younger than Stallone?
During the film there is a montage of clips from the earlier Rambo films, and I found that nostalgic in a good way. Part of that is on the trailer for some reason.
I’m not saying don’t watch the film. If you’re in the mood for a revenge fueled gore fest (seriously!), one that won’t let you down like Rebel Ridge, that lets you play Gardensdscapes at the same time, then check it out. Hopefully this Boomer Boom Boom is the last Rambo movie, from First Blood to Last Blood. The political climate doesn’t allow for simple good guy/bad guy stories anymore, and Stallone is just too old.
Triggers: sex trafficking, torture, rape (off screen), lots of gory violence
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Fandango at Home, plex, Row8, appleTV
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CFR: In Addition
Now I am partial to the First Blood series. After all, it was the only movie my maternal grandfather watched and enjoyed – read “First Blood” with Grandpa. The first First Blood was a materpiece. However, I saw part of the sequel on the TV and well, it just didn’t work for me. So I never really watched any of the others. Plus I just can’t watch a movie with rape in it. I mean, it’s just too much for me. I’m sure Stallone is showing that person doing it is evil, but well, I just can’t. Although I think it is good it is off screen.
Again, go watch the first First Blood. It is amazing. Even my grandfather loved it.
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