Thirty-seven years after he brought Rambo to life in First Blood, Sylvester Stallone returns for a fifth (and presumably final) instalment in the carnage-fuelled franchise.
This time around, the former Vietnam War veteran exacts vengeance on a bunch of Mexican gangsters who have abducted his adopted granddaughter (Yvette Monreal).
Always a man of few words, the world-weary warrior uses an array of weapons — knives, shotguns, arrows and his fists of fury — to obliterate the blustering baddies. A gratuitous amount of gore, guts and blood are spilled, particularly during the climactic confrontation inside a booby-trapped tunnel at the family’s Arizona ranch.
Unevenly paced, the narrative is further bogged down by wayward editing rhythms. As an action icon, the 73-year-old Stallone is still a force to be reckoned with. The rest of the ensemble, including Paz Vega as the journalist-ally, fails to make an impression.
Viewers expecting nuance should look elsewhere. The direction by Adrian Grunberg is strictly workmanlike.
The end-credits montage of scenes from all five Rambo films indicates, hopefully, that this might finally be finis for the original action hero.