The trailer from the newest, and possibly last, adventure of John Rambo pays homage to all the sequels that came before it in grainy clips that ref the actions in the current (clean color) shots, as seen below. But it’s the name and the underlining concept of this film that bring it closer to it’s original Rambo: First Blood.
1982’s Rambo: First Blood was an instant classic, a Vietnam vet trying to readjust to society and leave his violent past behind him, pushed to the limit by an invading force. The movie, which said more about how we treated our returning heroes then it did about big explosions, perfected the “one man vs an entire army (or police force) genre. A critical and box office success, the film triggered a series of bigger sequels, guns, and violence. Each film straying further and further away from its meaningful core by focusing on the violence, giving John Rambo friends/allies, and failing to find a meaning behind just making things go boom.
Rambo returns in Last Blood
I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy Rambo: First Blood Part 2, I loved it. Anything with a title that says “First,” followed by the number 2 is going to be entertaining to watch. The rest eeeeeeeeh, not so much.
The first Rambo was essentially Home Alone for adult males with subscriptions to Guns and Ammo. We watched as John Rambo hid in a forest, a man being invaded by a small (police) force as he sets traps and turns the hunters into the hunted. And now, in 2019, this new and final (?) installment, Last Blood, seems to see Stallone gets back to basics, as the trailer shows an much older and shorter haired Rambo setting traps around his homestead and going from apparent pray to making the bad guys say their prayers! (It’s not as easy as it looks, people).
As excited as I am for the concept, my real hesitation begins as you read down the imdb page. Director, Adrian Grunberg and writer, Matt Cirulnick aren’t exactly heavy hitters… or that experienced in film, which leave the heavylifting on Cinematographer, Brendan Galvin (Westworld) and Stallone’s muscular (possibly roided up) shoulders.
That said, I’m hoping these fairly newcomers can strap on their red headband and give us the Rambo sequel we all want to see on September 20th, 2019.
