Sylvester Stallone Speaks Out Against Rambo: Last Blood Haters

Rambo: Last Blood hasn’t exactly been getting a lot of acclaim. The fifth and seemingly final installment in the Rambo film franchise has been thoroughly blasted by critics. The film is rating as “rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes with a 28% Tomatometer critical score, with many of the reviews citing the film’s excessive violence as one of the major issues of the Sylvester Stallone starrer. Some moviegoers have also come away with their own critiques of the film but now, Stallone has a message for all of the Rambo: Last Blood haters.

In a post on Instagram last weekend, Stallone shared a video that had a very direct question for Last Blood‘s haters: Can’t handle Rambo? The video then showed a sampling of what appeared to be British moviegoers not having the best reaction to Rambo before declaring that the film’s not everyone’s cup of tea before unleashing clips from the film. Check it out below.

When it comes to audience response to Rambo: Last Blood, Stallone may not even really need to fire back at haters. While critics have largely panned Last Blood, audiences appear to be enjoying the film. On Rotten Tomatoes, Rambo: Last Blood is currently sitting at a solid 85 percent audience score. Most audience reviews seem to be approaching the film as a product of the whole, meaning that as a Rambo franchise movie the violence is to be expected while there are several other reviews that dismiss the critical concerns with Rambo: Last Blood as being nothing more than political bias on the part of “liberal” critics.

But even with audiences responding positively to Rambo: Last Blood, it isn’t just critics who aren’t enjoying the film. Rambo creator author David Morrell is himself not a fan of the latest offering in the Rambo franchise. Morrell, who wrote the 1972 novel First Blood from which the 1982 film of the same name was adapted, shared his own reaction to the film on Twitter Saturday, noting that he was embarrassed to be associated with Last Blood.

“I agree with these RAMBO: LAST BLOOD reviews,” Morrell wrote. “The film is a mess. Embarrassed to have my name associated with it.”

Morrell went a bit further in speaking with Newsweek, saying that the film “dehumanized” him.

“I felt degraded and dehumanized after I left the theater,” Morrell said. “Instead of being soulful, this new movie lacks one. I felt like I was less a human being for having seen it, and today that’s an unfortunate message.”

Rambo: Last Blood is directed by Adrian Grunberg, stars Sylvester Stallone and co-stars Paz Vega, Yvette Monreal, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Joaquín Cosio, Adriana Barraza, Louis Mandylor, and Óscar Jaenada.

Rambo: Last Blood is now playing in theaters.