Lopez ventured into the music industry with her debut studio album On the 6 (1999), which helped propel the Latin pop movement in American music. With the simultaneous release of her second studio album J.Lo and her romantic comedy The Wedding Planner in 2001, Lopez became the first woman to have a number-one album and film in the same week. Her 2002 remix album, J to tha L–O! The Remixes, became the first in history to debut atop the US Billboard 200. Later that year, she released her third studio album This Is Me... Then, and starred in the US box office number-one Maid in Manhattan.
I felt degraded and dehumanized after I left the theater. Instead of being soulful, this new movie lacks one. I felt I was less a human being for having seen it, and today that's an unfortunate message ... [Trackdown] is typical of ultra-violent 1970s exploitation "grindhouse" films, the technique of which Rambo: Last Blood resembles. The sets here look cheap. The direction is awkward. ... Rambo could be called John Smith, and the film wouldn't change. It assumes the audience is familiar with Rambo's background, whereas anyone under 40 will wonder what on Earth is going on with those tunnels.
More InfoIn May 2010, Stallone revealed he was "done" with the character, stating, "I think Rambo's pretty well done. I don't think there'll be any more. I'm about 99% sure I was going to do it ... but I feel that with Rocky Balboa, that character came complete circle. He went home. But for Rambo to go on another adventure might be, I think, misinterpreted as a mercenary gesture and not necessary. I don't want that to happen." At the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Millennium Films and Nu Image advertised Rambo V with posters and handouts. Following an interview with Stallone for Ain't It Cool News, in which the director expressed his desire to end the franchise, Harry Knowles reported: "He then told me that the folks behind those posters essentially said that if Sly didn't do it—someone else would. And Sly seems fine with that."
More InfoThe script by Stallone and Matthew Cirulnick attained unfavorable reactions. In a negative review for The Hollywood Reporter, Frank Scheck said it "feels utterly tossed-off and generic, more resembling the pilot for a Rambo television series than a proper send off", but credited Stallone with "[keeping] a franchise afloat". Katie Walsh of the Chicago Tribune, who gave the film 1 out of 4 stars, called the script "barely a script at all" and the writing lazy; she added that story writers Stallone and Dan Gordon "trade on charged imagery rather than, you know, actually writing characters that fully express the spectrum of human morality". William Bibbiani of Bloody Disgusting said the script "has been reduced to its lowest common denominators, establishing characters quickly and then shoving them into a simplistic plot (that is to say, simplistic even by Rambo standards)", and rated the film 1.5 out of 5. Grading the film a D+ for IndieWire, Eric Kohn said Stallone as a co-writer "does a decent job at generating empathy for Rambo through furtive gestures, but Last Blood goes overboard to prove that he's tried to be a better man". While many called the plot of Last Blood derivative of Taken, web-based critic James Berardinelli called it "a Death Wish variant with a few callbacks to the trap-building of First Blood".
More InfoIn the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Downton Abbey and Rambo: Last Blood, and was projected to gross $15–20 million from 3,450 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $7.2 million on its first day, including $1.5 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $19 million, finishing second behind Downton Abbey. The opening was compared to First Man (2018), another drama involving outer space which received high praise from critics but a lukewarm audience reception, resulting in a muted box office turnout despite its cast and budget. Deadline Hollywood deduced the film would lose $30 million off a projected $150 million final worldwide gross (a figure it would ultimately fall short of). The film made $10.1 million in its second weekend and $4.4 million in its third, finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.
More InfoIn the late 21st century, the solar system is being struck by mysterious power surges, threatening all human life. Major Roy McBride, son of astronaut H. Clifford McBride, believed dead, is informed by U.S. Space Command (SpaceCom) that the surges have been traced to the "Lima Project", created 29 years earlier to search the galaxy for intelligent life, under Clifford's leadership. Nothing has been heard from the Lima crew since reaching Neptune 16 years ago. Told his father may be alive, Roy agrees to travel to Mars from where he can attempt to establish communication with him. Roy is joined by Colonel Pruitt, his father's old associate. Roy, acclaimed for his ability to remain calm under extreme pressure, shows little emotional reaction to his father possibly being alive.
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