Forget Drug Cartels! 'Rambo 5' More 'Predator' Than 'First Blood' and Why That's a Good Thing!

So perhaps I spoke a bit too soon on the 'Rambo' post a few days ago. He's not fighting aliens or drug cartels, instead, he's fighting a sort of savage beast created by the military. This is definitely more of what I had pictured in my mind when Stallone was talking about taking 'Rambo' in a different direction.

The above pic (which I nabbed from AICN) is a promotional poster they slapped together for the Toronto Film Festival. Sly was cool enough to leave a voice mail on Harry Knowles' phone to explain things a bit. You can hear that message here.

So, what do you think? Personally, as I expressed in my previous post, I'm all about Stallone taking the series in a new direction. Sure, the poster looks like something that would appear on the cover of a discount direct-to-DVD flick, but it's just being used for very limited promotional purposes. Between his recent reboots of the 'Rocky' and 'Rambo' franchises, not to mention the potential awesomeness of next year's 'The Expendables,' I'm expecting great things.

It's like Schwarzenegger's character, Dutch, from 'Predator.' Dutch was obviously experienced in military matters before he met the alien hunter, and it was his skill and expertise that enabled him to kill the creature. So, why can't Rambo do something similar? The only difference is that we've seen Rambo's previous exploits. It's like if they made a series of films about Dutch's war experiences then capped it off with 'Predator.' Would those previous films make 'Predator' any lesser of a picture? I don’t think so. And considering that 'Predator' is one of the most bad-ass movies ever made, at least in my opinion, I'm all for Rambo taking a similar, though decidedly more monstrous direction.

People are bitching-a-fit right now about the move, but I think if Sly handled it right and made a picture as good as the last 'Rambo' flick, he could really refresh and revitalize the series. Hell, I'm just happy I can talk about the next 'Rambo' movie on my blog! So what do you guys think? Is the creature going to be more monster or mutant? Whatever it is, I'll be talking about it!