Rambo Last Blood Movie Review

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Original Image
from Forbes
I'm sure you guys have heard about the new Rambo movie. I went and saw it opening weekend, and man oh man, was it amazing! During the summer, I've been saying how I would do a movie review about Last Blood, like how I did the book review of Milo Yiannopoulos' Dangerous. After seeing the movie, I knew I couldn't pass this up! Let's get one thing straight: this movie is a MUST SEE. Rambo: Last Blood had a little bit of everything, and more. I was honestly worried about doing this review, because I didn't think the movie would live up to the expectations they had for it. Am I glad to say I was wrong! Sylvester Stallone shines in his role as John Rambo, as he does in all his movies. For the record, this review will have major spoilers, so if you still want to see the movies without spoilers, don't read the rest! Go see the movie, then read this. Unless you need motivation to see it (some of the reviews are kind of crappy), then keep reading because this movie is 100% worth seeing!! The best way to describe this was a gorier version of Taken. How this legendary series comes to a close is jaw-dropping. Many people know I'm a HUGE Rambo/Sylvester Stallone fan, but I'm telling you that you will not regret seeing this movie.

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from DailyBeast
Let's start with what I didn't like, so I have more time to praise the movie. There were some scenes/moments I was like, what? Like in the last half hour, where the goriness was very high. I thought some of the ways Rambo killed the men of the cartel was overdoing it. Like two guys fell onto a bed of nails, and Rambo came out with a shotgun to shoot them. My sister and I turned to each other, and gave each other the look of "Really," then shook our head and turned our attention back to the movie. But I saw an interview with Stallone, and he made a good point that cleared up my opinion. Rambo is the type of guy who doesn't think death is good enough. He wants his enemies to "feel his rage and feel his hate." That's why some scenes he'll stab someone, then blow their head off. Also, when his PTSD comes on, that's when his survival/killer mode comes on. That's why he goes insane with killing his enemies. I still thought it was overdone, but this actually made a lot of sense. Something I liked in one of his interviews was where he said that he had spoken to Navy Seals, and how he learned how to not make the deaths a "typical movie death." You know what I'm talking about. Where someone gets stabbed in the stomach, and dies two seconds later. I'm that person to say, "One stab wound will not kill you. 40 will." That's why Sylvester seems to go overboard with the killing. The other thing I didn't like about the movie was how quickly they rushed into everything. First Gabrielle is with Rambo, then she goes to Mexico, then she gets kidnapped, then Rambo comes for her, then she dies, then finally Rambo gets revenge. For me, they really rushed into it. The final fight between Rambo and Hugo Martinez could have been much more entertaining. If you weren't paying attention, you would have missed some crucial detail. Also, I didn't think that Sylvester Stallone had handled the PTSD well enough. Like, you see him taking pills for the PTSD, and how he can't leave the farm because it's hard for him to function outside of this. The same interview I was talking about, he discusses this aspect of it, and his interviewer is a veteran. This shed some light on what I didn't notice, and thinking back to the movie, I do see it now.

This movie had it all: action, drama, revenge, dark humor. To pretty much sum up what happens during Last Blood, Rambo has been raising his niece, who has pretty much become like a daughter to him. After she had been captured by the Mexican cartel, Rambo goes out to find her. Upon losing her, Rambo decides to exact revenge in the typical Rambo way: taking out all those who stand in his way. The drama actually surprised me, because with Rambo, it's more oriented to wars going on. In First Blood, Rambo was dealing with his own personal war of PTSD, then Rambo 2-4, they dealt with other wars occurring at that time. This time, Rambo wasn't in that situation but with a cartel. Not to mention the whole aspect of his daughter. When she died, I actually almost cried because Rambo was talking about how he learned to love again by knowing her. That was actually really heartbreaking to see, especially when you remember Rambo's PTSD. When she was close to dying, I remembered in the trailers for the movie that Rambo was standing in front of a grave, so that's when I knew she would die. Of course you can't have a Rambo without some action and revenge. Man, were those scenes gory! At first I thought it was overdoing the goriness. That's one of my only complaints. One scene I thought was pretty funny, and so did the audience, was closer to the end. The brother of the head of the cartel had been killed by Rambo. They found his body without it's head, and you see Rambo driving off with the head. I laughed at that.

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DailyBeast
I have heard/read critics' review of Last Blood. They're wrong. This is definitely the best movie of 2019. One of the reviews I read was that critics complained about Sylvester Stallone taking a "Trump-esque" view of Mexico. Most of us know that a "Trump-esque" view of Mexico means that we view all Mexicans as evil people. This isn't what the movie was portraying, nor is what the movie or what Trump says is incorrect. There are cartels in Mexico that captures innocent women, and use them as sex objects. The main villain said that they don't see these women as human, but money-makers and whores. Also, the movie showed Gabrielle being raped multiple times, as well as being injected with drugs multiple times. That was what killed her. Human trafficking, women being taken and sold, that's real. And it's happening in Mexico, and bleeding into the US. Saying that the movie is taking a "Trump-esque"/evil view of Mexico is clearly wrong. Here's a link with Stallone talking about this. He never meant for there to be sides, but for people to see the truth about human trafficking, and how bad it is. https://youtu.be/M_aHHqHwJjw. Also, they criticized the movie with Stallone being the only white person in the movie, yet he was the hero. This goes under "the white man being society's hero." That's stupid and ridiculous. But these "issues" the critics are pointing out are just ways to politicize everything. When I was watching the movie, I wasn't thinking of the political problems in the movie. I just sat there enjoying the movie. Never did it occur to me that this had a message of "Build the wall." I can somewhat see it, but I doubt that was the main point of the movie! And maybe it's true that this movie is doing well in red states, but I have no proof to accept or deny this, so why say if it's true/false like these critics do? I have said this a thousand times. You don't need to incorporate politics into every aspect of life. The movie wasn't to deal with politics, but to entertain you. The movie accomplished that! Even though critics want to paint Stallone as a "bad person" for having Republican values, I don't think it'll work. He's one of the originals in Hollywood, they can't touch him. The same way these Leftists can't touch Denzel Washington. These people are too legendary. I've said that I think Sylvester Stallone is a Republican, and I also wouldn't be surprised if he's a Trump-supporter.

Sylvester Stallone really shined in this role. From the moment I saw John Rambo, I knew this was Stallone's best character. Obviously Rocky is the main character that made Sylvester famous, but this character was bigger to me. How he portrayed a character that suffered being underappreciated from Americans, and suffered from PTSD was incredible (and heartbreaking). Seeing him go from a cool, collected, almost loving father, to the usual fighter/soldier was interesting. I thought how Stallone brought out this aspect of Rambo, a caring side, was portrayed well. The father/daughter relationship was so adorable. When he gave his little speech to Gabrielle before she died was beautiful and tear-jerking. Even though Stallone has always had a tough guy persona, this scene actually made me very emotional. The only time I was sadder than that was in the ending scene of First Blood. Sylvester Stallone should be extremely proud of how well this film came out. It was amazing! I'll admit, I did not expect the plot of the movie to be the way it was. The trailers made it seem like Gabrielle was kidnapped, and Rambo fought/killed these men, then rescued her. That wasn't what happened at all. I was also really impressed with that aspect of Last Blood.

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from TheWeek
If I'm honest, when the ending came, I was actually kind of depressed. Remembering that there will not be another Rambo movie, and that we aren't seeing the character Rambo again, it's kind of nostalgic. One thing I will admit is that I think at the end, and some of you may not like this, but I think Rambo should have died. I don't want to see that happen, but if this is the last movie, this would have been perfect. Rambo could die peacefully, not suffering from PTSD any longer. That's how I wish to see the ending, but the ending of the movie wasn't that bad!  I know that a lot of people aren't sure if this is the last one, even though Sylvester Stallone has spoken in almost all his interviews that this is the last Rambo. At the same time, he said that he can change his mind at the flip of a hat. So who knows if this really is the last movie? He said on Jimmy Fallon that many people are wondering why it's called Last Blood, and he said he has two reasons: 1) This is the last movie, or 2) Rambo kills so many people, there isn't anymore blood. The last reason made me crack up! Something else that's important to remember is that Stallone is 73, and making action packed movies. I mean, look at all of what he is doing in Last Blood. He is still doing much of what he did in the original movies! Obviously, not as much, but there's still a lot he is doing that most men his age cannot do. I really don't understand why the reviews were so hateful to the movie. Don't read those reviews, but read the reviews from people on Google. I would say 90% of them are in favor of the movie.

To close, Rambo: Last Blood is a must see. Stallone shined in his role as Rambo. This was the perfect ending to the franchise. The movie may not have made that much, like the other movies that came out that weekend, but Stallone has never really been in these movies for the money. He has done this for entertainment. That's always been what he is about. He is very authentic in that sense. Even with the movie being "rushed," at the same time, it was the perfect amount of time. All the Rambo movies have been about 90 minutes, and they pack the movie with enough to not make you feel like you've been sitting in the theaters for ages. This movie lived up to the expectations. This was the best movie of 2019. Sorry (not sorry), but Avengers: Endgame didn't live up to it's expectations. The other top 5 movies weren't all that either. This movie is worth seeing. Perhaps not with your kids, since it's rated R, but anyone old enough to watch can join you! This was my first R rated movie in theaters. Usually, if I see an R rated movie, it's at home or on DVD. Until the cashier saw my sister and I with our dad, then she let us purchase the tickets. Of course this wouldn't have been an issue because I had my license with me, and so did my sister. Like I said, the ending did make me pretty sad. Seeing the credits go through all the Rambo movies up until the last second actually makes me sad, because it's the end of an era. Look, I'll keep saying it until I'm blue in the face. GO SEE LAST BLOOD. I give this movie 5 stars!!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What do you think? Comment down below!!

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Quick note: The screenshot of Sylvester Stallone's Twitter was from Rambo Day, which was the 18th of September. I had shared my Rambo gear, and Sylvester Stallone shared it!! It's the one in the lower right corner. I freaked out! The link for the actual tweet is above. If you click the bottom right picture, you'll see my post! I also won the contest to win a free poster and tickets!!

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