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Sylvester Stallone has been on a kick recently of tackling his old, iconic roles in new and interesting ways. I never realized I wanted to see a Rocky movie where Rocky became Mickey, but that’s exactly what Creed delivered in spades. It was only a matter of time until Rambo got dragged out again for one last hurrah, but here we are with the teaser trailer to Rambo: Last Blood. And it feels so very been there, done that.
Last Blood hasn’t been in production hell, but Stallone always seemed hesitant to come back to the character. What else could really be done with Rambo now that the Vietnam War has been over for nearly half a century? With Rocky there was a story to tell, but Stallone felt like there had to be a really strong, meaningful reason for Rambo to head back into the fray, so Stallone spent nearly a decade trying to figure out what that reason is. And the answer is Logan.
Rambo has retired and most of his comrades are dead, so now he’s alone and living by himself, only he’s drawn back into a much more violent criminal world in order to save a little girl in a world that has deserts and vast farmlands. There’s tons of brown with this being billed as Rambo’s final adventure. For what it is, it’s fine, though it’s not really wowing me. I do appreciate the Home Alone death traps and hope there’s a huge sequence of trained killers being thwarted by an intensely violent home defense system. Also, obligatory groaning over “Old Town Road” being used in the trailer.
Rambo: Last Blood releases September 20, 2019.
