When the orphaned niece of Rambo's housekeeper heads to Mexico to see her father, who abandoned her and her mother years before, but is abducted by sex-traffickers. Rambo heads to Mexico to get her back...
During the end credits of Rambo: Last Blood, we get what comes over as a 'greatest moments' of sorts from the previous Rambo films. It's a reminder, to a degree of how good the first film was. The sequels have tended to focus more on the action of them. But I bring this up as it is by far the best thing about the film.
The plot plays like the Liam Neeson film, Taken, except set in Mexico. But like that film, Last Blood has problems. Both films have Americans going abroad and basically all the foreigners they meet, the French in Taken, the Mexicans in Last Blood, are evil and untrustworthy and deserve to be killed. As written by Matthew Cirulnick and Sylvester Stallone, based on a story from Dan Gordon and Stallone, it's a film that, if nothing else, will certainly play well with Trump and his supporters.
But while Taken, to a degree, has a glimmer of hope, Last Blood has none. There's no hope, no redemption here. It's a film that revels in it's violence, but it has to as there is nothing else here.
The thing is, with a bit of rewriting, that hope could have been there. But in choosing to be yet another film where the suffering of a young woman is nothing more than a plot device for Rambo to launch some brutal action, that possibility is gone. I'm getting fed up of using this 'woman suffering' plot device to motivate the hero and Last Blood is just the latest film to use this plot device, but with a glimmer of hope, it might have gotten away with it.
As for the violence, the last act is, to put it bluntly, some of the most brutal, over the top action I've seen recently. The film is classed as an '18' in the UK and fully justifies that classification. The action is totally insane, as if Jason Voorhees from the Friday The 13th films had gone full Home Alone. Rambo sets up numerous booby traps to deal with the traffickers in the final act, traps alone that would certainly kill his enemies...and then he often shoots them over and over. It's so in your face, literally(!), you just sit there opened mouth at the level of bloody carnage. Director Adrian Grunberg, to be fair, directs the film very well. The action is shot very well.
As for the acting, Stallone, despite his age does have a bit of life in him in terms of action and handles it well. The rest of the cast barely get a look in. Paz Vega, gets prominent billing but barely gets any screen time, to make an impact, The actors playing the traffickers are totally unmemorable. The only other actor to make an impact is Yvette Monreal as the girl, Gabrielle, but I suspect that's only to make you care what happens to her. But while you do care, it's so obvious she is going to suffer in some way, they could have stamped 'victim' on her forehead.
Aside from the brutal action, which did bring gasps and laughter at its levels, there is really little to recommend this film. With better writing, it could have been Stallone's Logan or Unforgiven in relation to Rambo. But the ending hints we may not have seen the last of the character.
The author of First Blood, David Morrell has trashed this film and what it does to the Rambo he created. I have to agree with him. This film is a violent, bloody mess of a film. It leaves an unpleasant taste in your mouth with its story.
Rambo: Last Blood is not the worst film I've seen this year. The action in the film prevents it from being that. But if that's all the film has going for it, then the film has problems. And with its politics, it's story and everything else, Last Blood has plenty of those.
Fans of Rambo might find something to enjoy here. But I suspect for everyone else it will be too unpleasant.
For me, I think it was a step too far and I'm not sure if I want to or care to see where it goes next.
Rating: 1/5
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