This one is kind of a head-scratcher, don’t you think? It’s not to say that Dave Bautista isn’t a worthy action star, but it’s enough to say that plugging him in as an obvious choice for a Rambo reboot doesn’t sound like the homerun that some folks are thinking it might be. But then again, it doesn’t sound like the worst idea. Bautista has the kind of emotional range that’s needed for a character like Rambo, but the size of the guy is one thing that feels like it would work against him since even when he’s not pumped up and ready to go, Dave looks like he could beat the brakes off of a small-town police force armed with anything less than several supermen that are primed and ready for trouble. In other words, plugging Bautista into the same situation that Rambo faced back in the 80s doesn’t feel like it would be authentic enough since it’s easy to think that big Dave would run riot on the police force from that period. But bringing things to the present and creating a Rambo story that would employ every updated trick possible might work.
Plus, the idea of creating a character with severe PTSD for Dave to play isn’t beyond the realm of possibility, but the war would need to be different, meaning something more recent, and the societal acceptance or rejection of his character might have to be reworked. Rebooting Rambo and keeping him in the 80s doesn’t feel like a great idea since that story has been done, but bringing Rambo into the present day and using the technology that’s on hand would be intriguing since it would make things a lot more difficult, but it would also show the limits of said technology when pit against someone that’s trained to either use that technology against those that are after them, at least from a cinematic standpoint.
It’s also an interesting choice since Dave has already taken on the role of a soldier in a few movies, and it would be interesting to see him do so yet again. There are likely plenty of ways to make him appear more vulnerable than he usually does, since again, Dave is a big guy, and the unfortunate part of this is that he does tend to draw a lot of looks as he appears kind of intimidating. In a big way, it does feel as though the Rambo franchise should be left alone for a while, perhaps to wait just long enough so that people might wonder when another Rambo movie might be on the way. Then there’s the question of how similar to make the reboot since a great deal has changed since the 80s, and unless the ideas to go back and do it all over in the same manner, it might be necessary to come up with a story that is either closer to the novel that a lot of people still haven’t read, or do something that might take off in a different direction than folks aren’t expecting. The problem with either idea is that by sticking too close to the story, some folks might feel that it’s underwhelming in its serious and realistic tone. But if the reboot goes off and does its own thing, people would be willing to claim that it’s nothing like the original and they hate it.
Fans are great and they’re necessary, but the dividing line between disappointment and fan service is so thin sometimes that it’s hard to see, and even harder to hit when making a movie. A Rambo reboot is tough to think about since while it’s not replacing the original movie obviously, it’s still easy to see that many people would be willing to remark that it might ruin the memory of the original. That’s still not the case, but trying to convince people of this is about as easy as dragging a horse to water when the animal has no intention of moving. There are no doubt many people that feel strongly in one way or another about Dave Bautista taking on the role, but it does feel that he might be the best fit that can be found at this time. Others might have something to say about this, but in terms of action stars, he would fit the bill in a big way.
Now the question is whether it will really happen or not and whether it will be accepted by the fans. Keeping Rambo as a movie idea rather than trying to adapt it as a series sounds like a better plan to be fair. But until we hear anything other than rumors and gossip about such an idea coming to fruition, it’s fair to say that people are going to keep tossing out ideas and opinions to see which way others are going to lean.
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