Rambo: last blood

*ing: Sylvester Stallone, Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Adriana Barraza, Yvette Monreal, Genie Kim, Joaquín Cosío, Oscar Jaenada 

Rated: 8/10

Sly. 73. Still rippling in enough ways to nullify the effect of wrinkles and eye bags. Seemingly the last of the sizzling and iconic Rambo series, The Last Blood is expectedly reflective and a journey wrapper for Sly who has dominated worldwide imagination in his 50-plus years on the screen as just two characters: John Rambo and Rocky Balboa, the latter drawing more eyeballs if at all a comparison is made.

As it is reflective so it is excruciatingly violent too, perhaps to make maximum impact or maybe because it showcases a war weary warrior who knows to strike only with utmost power. So don’t flinch when he yanks out a beating heart after squaring up his legendary blade on the villain; don’t be surprised if the atrocities on his kin are unimaginable despite the very obvious censor cuts; don’t be surprised that the introspection often takes over the action which comes in late into the movie.

Sly is in a self-indulgent but brooding mood here and jobs like pulling out people alive from a tsunami have become routine for him.

There are relationships that get honoured, there are scars that keep getting thrown into the screen through his walking nightmares and there are plenty of one liners that are spoken by his soulful eyes.

Yes Rambo has all along been a silent type of fighter and words do not come easy to him.

Here, so engagingly ending the journey after a young and dishy John Rambo first launched Hollywood’s rescue mission with a bandana, a bow and arrow and lots and lots of rippling muscles showcasing the signature vest, an aged John talks more than he has in all the four films put together over a period of more than three decades.

But you forgive the verbal intrusion for his is Sly — Old, introspective, lonely, traumatised and yet the ultimate defender.