I haven’t watched a Rambo movie in years, but I did like and remember the first one, I think it’s one of the best action movies. However I don’t remember the sequels very well, maybe I should re-watch them all some day.

Unfortunately this latest installment of the franchise didn’t excite me at all. I was hoping Stallone would give Rambo as good a closure as he did to Rocky with Rocky Balboa, but he failed me.

The plot couldn’t be simpler, but all you need for Rambo is an excuse for cool action scenes and maybe some dramatic moments. So I don’t complain about the plot. It does a good enough job of setting the action up.

Rambo himself is the usual moping character we’ve seen before, but he’s lost his little bit of “innocence” he had before. Now he’s older, but his view of the world hasn’t changed, which is why he’s living in a country at war.

The secondary characters don’t bring much more to this movie, including the female lead. I’ve been a fan of Julie Benz when she was playing Darla in Buffy/Angel, but her role here is of a typical scared woman who needs saving. And in some scenes she didn’t look that scared to me.

But what about the action. I must admit I was not very excited about any of the action here, I didn’t feel much tension or adrenaline watching this movie. I also think there’s a bit too much over the top gore, things that looked ridiculous and took me out of the movie.

What I wanted from this movie was a more personal story about Rambo himself, but this was only hinted at in the very last scene of the movie. This might mean there will be one more Rambo movie that hopefully will be more personal. But I don’t even know if I want to watch it after this.

Rating: 2 Stars