It was 1982 and times were different. We were still talking
about the effects of the Vietnam War on the combatants who came home. The term
PTSD wasn’t really spoken much but the condition existed. Then a movie came out
that focused on what could happen. That movie was RAMBO and an ex-soldier was
unnecessarily provoked and was unleased. The movie was a huge hit solidifying
star Sylvester Stallone as a box office draw and resulting in three sequels.
Now the fourth sequel, RAMBO: LAST BLOOD arrives on disc and it may be the
last.
John Rambo (Stallone) has returned home, living on a ranch
in Arizona his father owned with an old friend Maria Beltran (Adrianna Barraza)
and her granddaughter, Gabriela (Yvette Monreal). All of this is ten years
removed from the last film. Gabriella is about to go to college but before she
goes she wants to meet the father that left her and her mother years ago. An
old friend named Gizelle now living in Mexico tells her she’s found him.
Rambo tells her the he’s not worth the effort, that he was a
bad man and that bad men never change. Of course she ignores him, heads for
Mexico and meets up with Gizelle who takes her to meet her father. He tells her
that he never wanted her and to leave which results in Gizelle taking her out
to a club to get over her hurt feelings. And into the arms of human traffickers
who will use Gabrielle as a heroin hooked prostitute.
When she doesn’t return home and they find she never arrived
where she was supposed to, Rambo heads for Mexico to find her. Questioning
Gizelle he goes to the club and follows the man that kidnapped Gabrielle. The
end result is that he’s spotted and the gang that did so beats him bloody. They
allow him to live but carve their symbol on his cheek promising to do the same
to Gabrielle.
Watching the gang at the same time is Carmen Delgado (Paz
Vega), an independent journalist whose sister was kidnapped, used and killed by
the same gang. She takes Rambo home with her and has a doctor tend to his
wounds. He heals and after hearing her story he heads out to rescue Gabrielle
from the brothel she is now working in.
No spoiler alert but eventually Rambo makes his way home. He
takes the time to plot his revenge on the men who did this to Gabrielle and all
the other women they forced into slavery. The farm is littered with tunnels
seen early in the film, reminders of the life that Rambo once led, the battles
he suffered in Vietnam. Placing traps within these tunnels, digging more and
getting ready to go to war, his war, he finishes and heads south.
Provoking the traffickers is easy and another spoiler I
won’t mention. They will be angered and they will come for Rambo. But as we’ve
learned in the previous films, many have tried and many have failed. The
question is, this being LAST BLOOD, will they succeed or not?
Let’s be honest, we all pretty much know what to expect when
it comes to Rambo movies, right? And yet even knowing for the most part what is
coming up, we flock to watch the latest installment. The best part about them
has been that every single sequel has lived up to the standards set by the
previous film and this one is no different. You can still cheer on Rambo and be
amazed that Stallone at age 73 he’s still in good enough shape to make another
film in the franchise.
The supporting cast on the good guy side does a solid job
with Monreal playing the innocent well enough to be convincing. Vega is used
sparingly and could have done more. Oscar Jaenada as bad guy pimp Victor and
Sergio Peris-Mencheta as his brother Hugo are effectively sleazy bad guys that
you want to not only go down but to suffer along the way. Trust me, they will.
The movie is not for the timid, filled with plenty of blood
and gore as well as extreme violence. But again, that’s to be expected,
especially after what we saw in the last sequel. Action fueled and morally
centered, the character of John Rambo has been a hero that we’ve cheered now
for almost 40 years. This time out he may not survive. The end of the film
leaves that undecided. My hope is that this is the final film. If so it will be
a fitting finale.
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