John Rambo has suffered throughout his life and almost given up on peace, making him function in a vicious circle of PTSD. The film strikes the theme of acceptance of who you are and what you have become.

When Last Blood hit cinemas in 2019, many saw it as another shoot-em-up Rambo flick. However, the film can be seen as a brooding study of how war affects men psychologically and the problem returning and wanting a normal life. Like PTSD, John Rambo persists in a hyper diligent and triggered state, willing to unleash in every given second. He fought in a war he didn’t understand and want, and now he is living a life where the only family he ever known has been taken, that must hurt.

To make my argument clearer, we can say that Rambo’s last blood takes place in an alternative reality, which serves as a visual metaphor for Rambo’s mental state. The first point that comes to mind is once a man becomes permanently damaged, he becomes unchanged. Therefore, the violence becomes justified to him and maybe even completely unrecognizable to John Rambo. I think audiences may find the film more interesting when you consider the theme that the action violence plays out as an exertion on a war veterans’ traumatic past in a war that to Rambo never seems to end and never gives him that chance. The violence is rough and uncompromising, but so is war and John Rambo has fought in a war that he may never unsee.

The film is a psychological metaphor on the internal bruising of war on men, commonly known as PTSD. It’s hard to argue that The feelings that arise from this can become difficult to live with and a supportive network is very important.  

The film is advertised as mindless shoot em up, but it could be said that this a tragic character study constructed in a B movie plot about someone who has completely given up on life and peace. The life that is shown to him does’nt give him a second chance. The struggle for John Rambo to live the life he always wanted may never come true, leaving him in emotional pain.

The metaphors are similar to the first film, this concept that no one may ever give you the peace you deserve and the longing of pain to find this may never be possible. You have become so damaged from war, you don’t know how else to act. Uncompromising anger and self -destruction occurs as he almost looses his mind towards the final act.

Maybe, John Rambo has forgotten his true enemies and acts on instincts, his true instincts and his sense of morality have been altered by his experiences in combat. He is left confused and lost. The film is ugly, that is true, it doesn’t seem to present humanity in finest tradition but maybe that’s the point. 

All in all, the film goes up a notch when I consider these themes and points that the film hints at. If you go into the film knowing what deeper themes the film could be hinting at, I think the viewing experience will be more engaging. The question that you may think of during the whole experience is whether or not the film is pure fantasy violence or using the violence to explore a deeper reflection of a damaged man?

In terms of veteran war films, one of the best is Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino. A very intelligent film that explores war relations with a deep character study.

The film is available on Amazon Prime.

Let me know your thoughts?

Author Bio

Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football