UPDATE: Whew, this was denied by a representative of Stallone’s via Rolling Stone. Let’s now restart our hope that Rambo will be fighting a gentically modified monster.
I don’t want another Rambo movie. The fourth installment closed out the saga of John Rambo so perfectly, and managed to be excessively entertaining at the same time. Ever since Rambo: Last Blood has been floating around, I’ve been worried. Today’s news has me really worried.
Stallone revealed that Rambo: Last Blood is going to feature John Rambo taking on ISIS. We’d heard that the story was going to be about taking on the Mexican cartels, but it looks like Sly is going even broader and more topical with his enemy of choice.
There’s a lot I have against this idea. Besides the fact that it’s another Rambo movie, ISIS as the enemy is going to date this movie immediately and not in a good way. It’s also such a blatant bit of pandering to audiences who wouldn’t care about another Rambo movie, but will shell out some bucks to see a fictionalized version of a widely despised group get turned into meat sauce by John J. Rambo. There’s also the dicey area of racism that will undoubtedly pop up before the movie’s release. Whether or not that will be a substantial claim can’t be made until the movie is out, but that assured bit of controversy will only add to the movie’s marketing potential.
And that’s what this whole move seems like: pure marketing. They can’t rely solely on selling it as the last Rambo movie, so they have to drum up something that will draw in some hardcore types who just want to watch ISIS member get murdered along with some free controversy.
Look, I’m not above getting some kicks out of some dimwitted propaganda action (I still love Olympus Has Fallen), but that’s going to be such a bummer way to cap off the journey of John Rambo. I guess this is the price we pay for getting Rocky Balboa and what looks to be an amazing hand-off in Creed.
Remember when Rambo V was going to be about Rambo hunting a genetically altered monster in the jungle? I honestly wish we were getting that instead of Rambo vs. ISIS.
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