Friday saw the long awaited release of what promised to be the next Rambo movie, Rebel Ridge. Critics have given it a 95% whilst audiences have rated the movie 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, but is it really that good?
In many ways it is a throwback to the 80s & 90s action movie genre, and there is plenty to compare it to Rambo First Blood, but disappointingly it didn’t live up to the promise and the hype. Our preview to Rebel Ridge back on 9th August showed promise, the trailer gave us what we needed to be excited about this new movie, but it wasn’t to be.
Less Rambo, more A-Team vibe reboot… Aron Pierre who plays Terry Richmond, an ex-marine who walks into a town of corrupt cops, much like the recent Jack Reacher TV series on Amazon, however that pretty much where the positives end.
Both in the recent Jack Reacher TV series and going back to the original Rambo movie, violence is in part what makes them. Remember, we’ve been enticed to watch an action movie that promises to be the next Rambo, so who wouldn’t be expecting lots of violence? But it seems this ex-marine has had a dose of GenZ blood pumped into him that seems to have made him some kind of pacifist and reluctant vigilante.
At every scene where Marine Terry Richmond is confronted with the chance to go Rambo on the corrupt cops, he becomes Non-Lethal Weapon.
With $36,000 in his back pack, Richmond is heading into town to make bail for his cousin, but a run in with one of the towns dirty cops, the money is confiscated. With the help of a local court assistant, Summer McBride, Richmond takes on the corrupt cops led by police chief Sandy Burnne, played by Don Johnson.
Rebel Ridge had such potential, is it worth a watch? Yes, is it a good movie? Hmmmmm, OK, yes… Is it a great movie? No… Is it on par with Rambo First Blood? Most definitely not! We needed Richmond to gut a couple of cops, pop a few head shots and finish off the police chief with a magazine of bullets. Instead what we got was a bunch of lethal force from start to finish, don’t expect a body count, there isn’t one, well, not on camera anyway, Richmonds cousin we find out dies in prison.
Give the movie a chance, if you’ve got Netflix, let’s face it, you’ve already paid for it. If you haven’t got Netflix, Rebel Ridge definitely isn’t the reason you should sign up to the streaming service. If I had gone to watch this on the big screen, I would have felt robbed walking out of the cinema.
Overall, yes worth watching, expect no killing, no big jagged edge survival knife, and I wouldn’t worry about putting some popcorn in the microwave, I would just get the laptop out and just watch the movie whilst you’re catching up with your emails.
Likely, this movie will get a sequel, not sure what direction it would go. Richmond isn’t a broken war vet, in fact, he’s never actually seen combat, theres no PTSD, no anti Vietnam vibes, but seeing the reviews, it’s likely it will be enjoyed by most, certainly the fragile Millennial and GenZ community will love it.
If you want kick ass action though, head on over to Amazon and watch Jack Reacher!
Entertainment Swindon Rating: 3 out of 5 (And we are really close to put a 2 out of 5). We will be kind on this one.
Entertainment Swindon 
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