Movie Review - Rambo: Last Blood

Story time! (feel free to skip this section if you want to get straight into the review):
Back when I was a kid, I saw the Rambo series of movies. My dad, who was a fan, introduced me to this character. To me Rambo was THE quintessential hero who can "ignore pain and eat bad guys for breakfast" - he was the ultimate male role-model I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to look like him and my fascination for airsoft guns started with him. I vividly remember an instance from my childhood where I was trying cut a piece of paper using a pair of scissors and I accidentally cut open my finger. The sight of blood, more than the pain, brought tears and I was crying like it was the end of world when my dad rushed to me, deduced whatever took place and all he had to say was "all those Rambo movies and you are crying for a drop of blood" and he left. That was it! That was the moment I clenched my teeth (like Rambo would) and shut my mouth because not even my dad could compare me with Rambo and insult us both at the same time! - so everytime I fell down and hurt my knees, I would think I am Rambo and moved on without even noticing the gash. In a way, Rambo made me feel strong. It sounds stupid now, but imagine a 10 year old me and you would see why this character had a huge impact on me and my life. Needless to say, I have watched all four Rambo films more times than I could count. John Rambo (or Rambo 4 if you want to get serious about it) was an excellent Rambo film and had the perfect ending. Though I was more than satisfied with it and my mind said to me this is the perfect ending Rambo deserves, deep down I wanted just one more Rambo adventure which I knew was never going to happen. I secretly waited, wading through any rumors of a possible 5th one happening. Only rumors, not facts. 10 years had passed...

...and Sly announces a new Rambo movie. Imagine the joy I had when I heard of it! And then trailers came..."the tone looks different but I will take it", I thought to myself. Now that I have seen it, I can confirm it - yes, the setting is the same (so not a reboot of any sort, unlike those Arny movies that go through a reboot every 5 or so years) but the tone, the direction is different. Right off the bat, I feel this is not a movie we needed as the last one closed it wonderfully, but deep-down I am glad this happened. I must also say that this is not grand in scale like the last four movies; it feels like a much more contained, personal story - almost like a fan-made short film or a spin-off.

Speaking of short, this movie is short around 85 minutes. There are only two action scenes - one is a short one and the final climactic battle but I feel I could have used another action sequence to bring the movie's length to a perfect 100 minutes. The action sequences that are there are sweet af. I'll admit that I and all the other fans were only there to see Rambo rip a bad guy's spine out and look cool while doing it. And to all the "professional critics" who say the movie is full of mindless violence, I'll say this - the movie is called "Rambo - Last Blood" and NOT "Disney's Rambo". So they can look for song numbers and family-friendly cheese-fest elsewhere. Moreover, the violence in the movie is justified and let me tell you why...

The story is by no means a character study. It is just an instrument to get Rambo to do what he does best and I was not expecting anything more of it. So Rambo, after the last movie, has been living peacefully in his father's ranch with his niece, whom he cares a lot about. Teenage angst gets in the way of her and she suddenly wants to find out who her father is and why he abandoned her. She learns through a friend that her father is in Mexico and leaves the place despite Rambo's request. Unfortunately, she gets drugged by the local gangs and sold into prostitution. So Rambo goes looking for her and you can be sure as hell, there is going to be buckets of blood and with good reason! Now, comparisons have been made to Liam Neeson's 'Taken' and I can see why but my research tells me that this story was written before 'Taken' was made and coincidentally 'Taken' was made and Sly had to "put a lid" on it for some time (*wink*).

True, the characters are shallow and undercooked, but the ones that were important seemed fine. I didn't have to know the backstory of the maid (?) or the main bad guy. "Bad guy" doing "bad things" to innocent people is a good enough reason for me to see Rambo go on a killing spree.

In the end, I enjoyed the movie. My parents who were fans of Rambo enjoyed it and did NOT think the violence was unnecessary (again, it is a Rambo movie). I have also heard a few people say this is like a bloody version of 'Home Alone' but if you recall, Rambo was "Home Alone" before Kevin was "Home Alone". There is also a sweet-ass Mortal Kombat move in the climax of this movie (Kano's Fatality, check it out) and I was laughing and cheering at the sight of it (you may say I am sick but in my defense, these are some very bad people and you want to see Rambo do bad things to them). I am actually really surprised that CBFC did not cut this scene out as it is shown in its entire glory. John Wick 3's lesser violence was cut out by the CBFC despite being rated 'A' here in India. So, way to go CBFC!

There are two scores I have to go this movie - one for the fans of Sly/Rambo and the other for casual viewers.

For fans - 7/10 

For casual viewers - 6/10