For the swan song for one of the most popular film franchises in the world, Last Blood underwhelms, but nevertheless Rambo’s ride into the sunset is, in its stiff muscular way, graceful and fitfully melancholic.
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The fifth and final film of the franchise, Rambo: Last Blood is a minor letdown, being predictable and surprisingly tame. While it’s different from previous iterations of past Rambo movies, in that Last Blood is not a war movie, Last Blood follows a kidnap-revenge plot that is strikingly similar to Liam Neeson’s Taken and then some.
Still suffering from post-traumatic stress order from his time in the Vietnam war, Rambo lives a quiet life on his barn with his niece Gabrielle and helper Maria. Abandoned by her father since young, Gabrielle is determined to find closure, venturing into dangerous crime-infested Mexico to find her father on the tip of a friend. But her friend betrays Gabrielle, luring her to a club where a sex trafficker drugs and kidnaps her.
When Gabrielle does not return home for the night, Rambo storms into Mexico, tracks down her friend, locates the sex trafficker and forces him to reveal Gabrielle’s location, a brothel where the pimps are headquartered. But, outnumbered, Rambo is severely beaten to unconsciousness. He is rescued by Carmen (Paz Vega), a journalist investigating the illegal sex trade. When he has recovered, Rambo tries to save Gabrielle again.
Thankfully, the film is not fully a rehash of Taken. The first and second act is Taken. The third act is more like Home Alone, in which the Mexican traffickers travel to Rambo’s barn to kill him. Rambo has, like Kevin McCallister, rigged his home, waiting for his prey to fall into the traps.
For the swan song for one of the most popular film franchises in the world, Last Blood underwhelms, but nevertheless Rambo’s ride into the sunset is, in its stiff muscular way, graceful and fitfully melancholic.
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