Originally Posted by
Ilan Preskovsky
I think it probably says something about the character of John Rambo that Stallone has not had the same success with resurrecting him as he has Rocky for a new millennium. Both franchises went from being small, almost arthouse in their first installment to something much more b-grade as they went along. The sheer charm of Rocky carried the entire franchise even at its most silly but the same really can't be said about Rambo.
Rambo in First Blood was not an action hero but a man broken by war who is forced to resort to violence for survival. It's a critique against violence, war, and unfettered machismo. The Rambo of the sequels IS an action hero and the films themselves are all about glorifying violence and bull-headed machismo.
Last Blood has taken that to such an extreme that it represents nothing less than the exact opposite of First Blood. It's pure, mean-spirited revenge porn and, whether its gross representations of Mexico and its extreme case of fridging are intentional political statements or not, they're still pretty morally repugnant. The worst thing about it, though, is that while Rocky leaned into its b-movie silliness and had a sense of humour about itself, First Blood is entirely lacking in humour, in irony, and in self-awareness. As such, rather than just being a dumb action flick, it's a dumb action flick with pretentions towards having something to say - which is really a problem since what it has to say is so thoroughly repulsive. I'm glad to hear that Stallone's own views are not actually mirrored by the film as I am a fan of the man's work overall but that doesn't change how objectionable the final product is.