Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

"I want revenge. I want them to know that death is coming. And there's nothing they can do to stop it."

Director
Adrian Grunberg

Cast

Sylvester Stallone - John Rambo
Yvette Monreal - Gabriela Beltran
Adriana Barraza - Maria Beltran

Paz Vega - Carmen Delgado
Sergio Peris-Mencheta - Hugo Martinez
Óscar Jaenada - Victor Martinez
Fenessa Pineda - Gizelle
Pascacio Lopez - El Flaco

The fifth and last installment (as of now, at least) in the Rambo series, "Rambo: Last Blood," came out in 2019 with a lot of hype before exiting quietly and seemingly unnoticed.

Aside from this Rambo movie, I admit I've only seen "First Blood" (1982) followed by the fourth film, "Rambo" (2008). I haven't seen the second film, "Rambo: First Blood Part II" (1985) in its entirety. Nor have I seen "Rambo III" (1988) at all. I'm sure I will in the very near future. So, I had to read the film synopsis for two and three to get myself caught up.

In the first installment, Vietnam veteran John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) searches for an old army buddy somewhere on the outskirts of Hope, Washington. However, the family informs Rambo that his friend died from cancer, which he caught from being exposed to Agent Orange while in Vietnam. 

As Rambo wanders into the town limits to find a place to eat, a local sheriff sees him and decides he doesn't want this vagrant Army veteran coming through his community. Rambo ignores the sheriff's warnings, and pretty soon there's a manhunt out for him. 

In the second movie, Rambo is asked to return to Vietnam to rescue POWs. 

In part three, Rambo, living in Thailand and working for a monastery, squares off against Russian forces in Afghanistan. I've often heard this is the weakest film.

In "Rambo," he's still living in Thailand 20-years later. He's asked by a missionary doctor to help rescue a group who have been kidnapped while on a humanitarian mission in Burma by a heavily corrupt SPDC officer named Major Pa Tee Tint and his Burmese junta army forces. At the end of the fourth movie, Rambo returns to the U.S. to see his father at his home in Arizona. I found the pace of this movie rather odd.

"Rambo: Last Blood" picks up with Rambo still living at his now deceased father's home. He manages a horse ranch at the house with his long-time friend, Maria Beltran (Adriana Barraza).

Maria's granddaughter, Gabriela (Yvette Monreal), lives with them. For Gabriela, Rambo has been her true father figure as her real dad walked out on her and her mother when Gabriela was very young.

She's close to Rambo and her grandmother. However, she gets a call from her friend, Gizelle, in Mexico who tells her she found the home of her father. 

Gabriela tries to convince Rambo and her grandmother to allow her to drive down to Mexico to find her dad.

Considering just how ruthless, cold, and unsympathetic her father was years ago when he abandoned them, Rambo and Maria strongly forbid it. They try to convince her that he's not worth inviting back into her life.

Gabriela agrees not to go but sneaks off to Mexico anyways. She meets with Gizelle (Fenessa Pineda) who takes her to her dad's place.

There, he tells Gabriela straight out that he never wanted anything to do with her nor her mother, and that she doesn't need to ever come back and see him. 

Sergio Peris-Mencheta and Yvette Monreal in
"Rambo: Last Blood."

Seeing how distraught Gabriela is, Gizelle takes her to a night club to help get her mind off of things. 

A random guy takes an interest in Gabriela. He discreetly drugs and kidnaps her, and brings her into a sex trafficking cartel. 

Maria soon finds out that Gabriela snuck off to Mexico. Rambo immediately jumps in his truck to find her and bring her home. 

The first place he goes is to Gizelle's apartment. As she refuses to cooperate, he threatens her until she shows him the same club she took Gabriela. 

When they get inside, Rambo quickly figures out that she was kidnapped. 

Gizelle points out a guy who goes by "El Flaco" (Pascacio Lopez) as the man whom she last saw Gabriela with.

Rambo follows El Flaco to his car, tortures him until he agrees to take him to Gabriela's whereabouts. 

The leaders of the cartel get to Rambo first when he shows up at their ring location. They beat him up severely and steal his ID. But one of the leaders of the operation, Hugo Martinez (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) lets him live. They leave him there, bleeding and unconscious. 

Rambo is rescued by a strange woman named Carmen Delgado (Paz Vega) who followed him from the club. 

She brings him back to her home. When he awakens four days later, Carmen tells him she's a journalist following the cartel, which had previously kidnapped her late sister. 

Rambo manages to find and rescue Gabriela. When he brings her home, Rambo then goes back to get revenge on one the cartel leaders to send a message to its leaders. 

Hugo tracks him back to his home in Arizona. He brings an armed militia with him to Rambo's home. And per Rambo fashion, he knows they're coming. So, he sets deadly traps around the property, and arms himself for battle. 

Stallone certainly tries to regain the audience's sympathy for the Rambo character as it was seen in "First Blood." That was totally missed in the previous movie. 

But this time, he's diving into slasher territory. Sure, the previous films are violent. That's not a problem. This movie, however, made me feel like I was watching a version of "Home Alone" directed by Rob Zombie. In other words, this doesn't hold back on violence at all. Not in the least. It's graphic straight to the end, leaving me with the notion that revenge doth belong to Rambo.

The graphic content made me wonder just what distinguishes a horror movie from an action movie. 

If this was not a Rambo movie, it would easily be in the horror category. I suppose since Rambo is technically speaking the "good guy" of the story, the purpose of the movie isn't to evoke fear in the audience for the sake of entertainment. There's enough blood, violence, dismembering, decapitating, heart-ripping (literally) and exploding body parts to make one believe Rambo has now gone full-slasher flick. 

Just like the previous movies, this story is about John Rambo against yet another evil group deserving to take what they give. We know who's going to come out victorious and who will not. The uncertainty and entertainment value lies mainly with how he gets the audience through it all to the climax and conclusion. 

In and of itself, "Rambo Last Blood" is predictable. I swore he would die at the end, but that much I was wrong about. It's meant to be watched so audiences can see what Rambo does best - get revenge and eliminate the enemies. Still, seeing him up against a mob of completely degenerate deplorables is satisfying and intense. And having Rambo in the midst of a family brings some humanity back to Rambo, who's gone through hell, the scars of which still plague him. I'd be lying if I said I was not entertained by this movie.

The nostalgic spot-hitting of seeing John Rambo yet again, like seeing an old high school chum, is an experience to enjoy.

Rambo, an ex-Green Beret and Medal of Honor recipient, is a symbol of the damage warfare can leave with a soldier as depicted in "First Blood." It also depicts the America, personified by the police officers chasing him, that didn't welcome back Vietnam veterans returning home. 

According to Stallone, as stated in a 2019 article from ScreenRant.com "What to Expect from Rambo 6," "Rambo: Last Blood" is meant to be the final film in the series. But Stallone evidently later suggested the possibility of doing another Rambo film.

The article claims the 2008's "Rambo" was also supposed to be the last. I think the same goes for "Rambo III." Stallone has quite a talent for keeping his biggest franchises going - namely, the Rambo and Rocky Balboa movies.

While I can't yet say anything about part three, I can say that if "Rambo: Last Blood" was meant to give the character a final send-off, then it missed that mark by miles.

There's talk of doing a prequel film which could see John Rambo heading to Vietnam. Honestly, I'd rather see a film that gives the character a decent and well-deserved send-off rather than a prequel. 

Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo once again.

I think the first movie is the introduction we need to John Rambo. That's the whole reason David Morrell created the character for his novel "First Blood" in 1972, which the movie is based on. The ill-treatment soldiers like Rambo received is the basis for the story. That's captured so well in the first film. And Stallone manages to make this war torn, callous Army warrior of a man into a truly sympathetic character. He deserves that sympathy.

I'm sure it would be awesome to watch a prequel with Rambo in combat and witness the experiences he went through which ended up causing him severe PTSD. Rambo has since become a largely recognized American pop-culture icon. And prequels are a trend in cinema now.  

Still, I hope to see one last Rambo film just to watch this character get the farewell he deserves. This movie certainly didn't accomplish that. 

I may have gotten more out of "Rambo: Last Blood" had I watched part two and part three first. I still grew invested in this movie and found it entertaining, all things considered.