Rambo Last Blood: Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky" films have long worked as a form of career therapy.
One critic credits comedian Patton Oswalt with first putting that idea into words.
The pattern holds across the series. The first film is a rise from nowhere. "Rocky II" deals with sudden fame.
"Rocky III" captures the haze of stardom. "Rocky IV" confronts mortality. "Rocky V" extends that theme while reflecting a slowing career.
"Rocky Balboa" resists the fading of the light. "Creed" passes the torch.
"Creed II," the critic says, shows a star unwilling to step aside. Even the weaker sequels offer a look at Stallone's own struggles.
Rambo is a different case. The critic argues the character should feel more personal to Stallone than he does.
In the original film, Stallone plays a Vietnam veteran who turns his Green Beret training on a bullying Washington state sheriff, played by Brian Dennehy, and the sheriff's sadistic deputies.
The critic ranks it among Stallone's best performances. The action and improvised booby traps sell the movie.
Stallone also conveys the veteran's PTSD. Rambo is unwelcome at home after serving in an unpopular war.
He takes no pleasure in fighting fellow Americans. Stallone lets his grief show.
The critic says later sequels reduced that nuance to a cartoon. That makes 2019's "Rambo: Last Blood" hard to accept, since it tries to make Rambo human again.
The film arrived 11 years after "Rambo." It is a scaled-down revenge story.
Rambo goes after a Mexican cartel that kidnaps, drugs and kills his adopted daughter, Gabriela, played by Yvette Monreal.
The critic compares his rampage to Paul Kersey in the "Death Wish" films. The violence is graphic.
The production has a $50 million budget. It looks far cheaper under director Adrian Grünberg, the critic says.
The film also portrays Mexico as a cartel-run wasteland.
The critic calls that fear-mongering and links it to Stallone's support for Donald Trump.
He compares it to Michael Winner's "Death Wish II." He concedes that worse exploitation films exist.
Still, he says the tone feels sour at a time of widespread immigrant roundups and deportations.
As an action movie, the film fares little better. Grünberg can stage set pieces, as he did in the Mel Gibson vehicle "Get the Gringo."
The critic rates that film far higher. Here, dim lighting and digital blood blunt the impact. The kills are inventive on paper. They are unsatisfying on screen.
The critic calls the film a limp, hateful send-off for a character who deserved better.
Rambo's creator, author David Morrell, was harsher. He told Newsweek, "I felt degraded and dehumanized after I left the theater." He said the film lacks the soul of the original.
Note: This article is based on a film critic’s review and analysis of Rambo: Last Blood. The opinions and interpretations expressed here reflect the critic’s perspective and are not presented as undisputed facts. All factual claims about the film, its production, and public statements (including those by author David Morrell) have been verified against reliable sources.
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