Rambo: Last Blood

“I finally came home, to defend the only family I've ever known. But all she's got is me. She's coming home.”

Filmology Rating: 1.5 out of 4

Rambo: Last Blood he final 'Rambo' film. It's directed by Adrian Grunberg and finally, for the first time ever, we can watch Rambo run around and shoot people until he wins. 

This is possibly the weirdest film of this year. The entire first half of the film is beat-for-beat 'Taken.' Then, the last twenty minutes is 'Home Alone.' And there is such a stark contrast in tone that the film itself sank to the level of schlocky action and violence as it slowly took on the persona of a B-movie. 
The first thirty minutes is actually fairly well done. Once Rambo is thrust into action, the film falls into quicksand. 

The tone is possibly the biggest issue of the film. The first act is very down-to-earth; Rambo just living life. And as the film chugs along, the tone becomes wackier and funnier. The final twenty minutes of this film was like a Looney Tunes cartoon. Then it ends in possibly the greatest juxtaposition edit since '2001: A Space Odyssey.' It was hysterical.

The editing is such a huge problem. Half the time, you have no idea what's going on. It's not just the fact that the action was handheld by a gorilla on skates, it's also the sequencing of edits that made the film utterly confusing at times. 

There is also a very broad painting of antagonists. It portrays all Mexicans as sleazy, sex traffickers. There is even a shot of a border wall. Do you get it yet? 

There are also many wasted characters. One in particular- she shows up, does something, then never returns until the screenwriter needed to get out of a hole.  The writing is also atrocious. So many lines are on-the-nose and just plain dumb. 

However, that does not excuse the amazingly-schlocky action sequences that take up the end of the film. If the entire film was that, perhaps it would have been better. However, once again, another 'Rambo' film tried to do too much. But this time, it's in the hands of a very poor director. 

The film's end credits were also very embarrassing. It was a desperate attempt at nostalgia. It was just sad to watch. This is the worst of the 'Rambo' movies. And Rambo only uses his bow once. So that means they can put it on the poster.

Rating: Let It Burn

-Nolan