In one version of this film, it opens with John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) on horseback riding up a hillside during a stormy night. It turns out that he and the police are searching for missing hikers. This is obviously a nod to First Blood and is probably the only section I like without much reservations. The rest is Rambo living with Maria Beltran and her granddaughter Gabriela on a ranch where he has dug out a series of tunnels. Gabriela is desperate to find her no-good father. Ignoring warnings from both Rambo and her grandma, she goes to Mexico anyways and gets Taken. Rambo is on a rescue mission and finds help from crusading journalist Carmen Delgado (Paz Vega).
I like the rainy hillside opening. I'd rather have a loner Rambo mountain-man. Instead, he has new people and the audience have to piece it together. On top of that, the story is unnecessarily messy. There is no reason to go back and forth to Mexico. Kill the brother during the initial escape and the Mexicans will follow Rambo to the farm. There wouldn't be time to set up all the boobytraps but some of it is too Home Alone anyways. I do get the callback to Vietnam but the juice is not worth the squeeze. I also would change the initial contact with the gang. If he's not going to shoot them up, he should go unarmed and offer to buy her back. In the film, he seems to be straddling the middle with no plans. In general, the writing is problematic. It has the set pieces but they are badly put together. The gore is bloody and that's fine. Sly could have done something compelling with his aging action hero. It's called Last Blood and needs to be a big final chapter. I'm afraid that this is not anything.
I like the rainy hillside opening. I'd rather have a loner Rambo mountain-man. Instead, he has new people and the audience have to piece it together. On top of that, the story is unnecessarily messy. There is no reason to go back and forth to Mexico. Kill the brother during the initial escape and the Mexicans will follow Rambo to the farm. There wouldn't be time to set up all the boobytraps but some of it is too Home Alone anyways. I do get the callback to Vietnam but the juice is not worth the squeeze. I also would change the initial contact with the gang. If he's not going to shoot them up, he should go unarmed and offer to buy her back. In the film, he seems to be straddling the middle with no plans. In general, the writing is problematic. It has the set pieces but they are badly put together. The gore is bloody and that's fine. Sly could have done something compelling with his aging action hero. It's called Last Blood and needs to be a big final chapter. I'm afraid that this is not anything.