Rambo: Last Blood

Rambo: Last Blood (2019)

29% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 87 reviews)

Runtime: 89 minutes... at least in the United States

Directed by: Adrian Grunberg

Starring: Sly Stallone, Paz Vega, Yvette Monreal, Oscar Jaenada, Sergio Peris-Mencheta

From: Lionsgate

At least in the film community I know that many will disagree, but I had a great time with this sleazy little picture: 

Never trust a man wearing a white snakeskin jacket.

I imagine some are gobsmacked that I am rating this so high; it's a little surprising to me although I'll explain it later. I do understand those that are not fans of this movie and take umbrage with it... I can't even argue with First Blood author David Morrell thinking this was terrible and something that betrayed a character he created. It does not always seem like it is John Rambo we saw on the screen, and not just because he does not have long, luxorious locks like usual. He also remarked how this was like a 70's exploitation film... well, some of those I do enjoy and whether or not this is a “true” Rambo movie, for me it was a sleazy good time as an exploitation film.

The plot is simple: Rambo now runs his dad's horse ranch in Arizona, living with a friend and her granddaughter, who just graduated from high school. She goes down to Mexico for family reasons, but is kidnapped by the cartel and is forced into sex trafficking. Rambo goes down there to try and get her back... and yes, Taken definitely comes to mind. Things happen, he gets aid from Paz Vega, and this leads to one hell of a third act. There is a montage that occurs right before this final act and I got giddy because of what was being teased... I'll just say “a lot of carnage.”

The crowd I saw this with were pretty happy with how this turned out; they loved the finale as much as I did, and throughout there were both cheers and applause. Now, on Twitter there is plenty of discourse concerning Last Blood. Allegedly, if you love this movie then you are a red hat-wearing Trump supporter and racist who wants to build that wall, while if you hated it you are a Millennial SJW who is a snowflake and needs a safe space. Both are equally ludicrous takes to have. Then again, it may be ludicrous on my part that I am able to overlook the flaws of this because the final act was so over the top and bombastic, or that unlike too many movies this year I left the auditorium feeling satisfied and pleased instead of letdown and disappointed.


I'd say that this was a swell 90 minutes, but at least from someone I know who lives in Southeast Asia (along with a mutual here that lives elsewhere), he saw a different cut that has a decent amount of different material added and from other sources, that is like 10 minutes longer and this version was first screened earlier in the year for test audiences. Curious, but I presume the United States will get it on disc in some sort of Director's Cut. In any case, like I mention this was sleazy trash in a good way, even if this may not have been a “proper” Rambo movie.