What I did appreciate were the subliminal qualities with which Stallone-the-actor infuses his character. Mind forever blackened from the horrors he’s witnessed, John Rambo spends his life sheltered away in a remote Arizona farm, “keeping a lid” on the violent impulses that haunt him. It’s in the actor’s eyes: not just Rambo’s years at war, but the performer’s decades of entertaining masses with his showcases of brutality (see: the oddly-nostalgic credit sequence). Speaking of which, the film’s no-nonsense approach is a neat tribute to 1980’s action flicks of yore, where badass heroes said and did badass things. I was surprised by the restraint on display: the entire plot is basically a lead-up to a no-holds-barred, stupendously violent, explosive finale, where Rambo goes all “Macaulay Culkin” on the bad guys’ a***s. A case could be made that Rambo: Last Blood is basically Home Alone meets MacGyver, with a dash of Grunberg’s own Get the Gringo for good measure.
“…the 73-year-old actor still kicks more a*s than many of the wannabes half his age out there.”
Say what you want about Stallone’s fledgling career, but the 73-year-old actor still kicks more a*s than many of the wannabes half his age out there. In two especially grotesque sequence – one involving a collarbone and the other a heart – the man shows he’s not one to be f****d with. Yvette Monreal does what she can with the poorly-written niece Gabrielle, while Paz Vega sports a horrendous wig as the aforementioned plot device, Carmen. Sergio Peris-Mencheta snarls and glares as baddie Hugo.
I used Wick as an example, mainly because it’s also R-rated, and it also tells an uber-simple story of revenge (“dog-gets-killed-and…” you get it). What truly upsets me is the sanitized, PG-13 crap, produced in heaps, that glosses over the violence but is no less nihilistic because of it. In its attempts to appeal to a wider crowd, it strategically leaves out the gore but sustains the savagery (see: the Taken trilogy). It’s cowardly and self-servicing – something Rambo most definitely is not. Neither does it pamper to any “hip” or Important trend. Sure, we’ve seen it all before, and done better. But right now, at this moment in time, when everyone is afraid to say anything, it’s almost a wonder that an unapologetic piece of trashy entertainment such as this surfaces amongst all the sterilized #bullshit.
"…an unapologetic piece of trashy entertainment such as this surfaces amongst all the sterilized #bullshit."
Yeah, traversing the border with such ease and convenience…that would NEVER be possible for an American male…apparently, it is only Hispanics who find it such a breeze to come and go as they please. What Stallone has done with this movie is what Bronson and Eastwood did in the 70’s with Death Wish and Dirty Harry…Just as they did back then, Stallone is speaking for a LOT of people…And if the public had understood just WHO Stallone would be slaughtering in this film, I’ll wager it would have made a lot more money. Generally, when he has a movie coming out, no matter how nondescript, Stallone is EVERYWHERE….Didn’t really see much of him this time….and I don’t think that was a coincidence, either. Sounds as if he revealed a bit TOO much of a reality that many people do not want to acknowledge.
Agree with every word!