Cannes might not be the place you expect to hear of Sylvestester Stallone getting a standing ovation, but that’s what happened when the actor arrived to debut a teaser for Rambo V: Last Blood. Nearly four decades after the seminal First Blood, and eleven years after the over-the-top violence of John Rambo, Stallone’s back to fight one final war.
In what looks to be a return to the dark thriller roots of First Blood than an all-out action flick, Rambo V finds the PTSD-afflicted Vietnam vet picking up the pieces on a ranch in Arizona. When a friend’s granddaughter is kidnapped by a Mexican cartel, Rambo sets out to rescue her in the only way he knows how.
Violence and death tend to follow in Rambo’s wake, and this film looks no different. Stallone has evolved Rambo over the years from a troubled veteran of war to an unstoppable vigilante menace, which I guess is a natural progression for someone whose affliction goes untreated for forty years. So I don’t complain about the path these movies have taken quite as much as others. This one looks pretty good, too, with director Adrian Grunberg capturing a Logan-esque sensibility in this trailer. If that holds, this could be a worthy farewell to one of screen’s most iconic characters.
Also starring Paz Vega and Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Rambo V: Last Blood opens September 20th.
