If there's anyone that doesn't need saving, it's Rambo. But even Sylvester Stallone's nigh-on invincible action hero needs a helping hand from time to time -- especially when his movie flops with critics. Enter: Netflix. The king of the streamers has extended its own muscular arm to John J. Rambo, making for the streaming version of that "epic handshake" meme. That is to say, the streamer has given "Rambo: Last Blood" a small reprieve following a devastating critical response upon its 2019 debut.

Back in the mid to late 2000s, Stallone returned to his two best-known characters, giving Rocky a heartfelt and surprisingly solid legacy sequel in 2006's "Rocky Balboa." Given how these legacy sequels typically go, it was an impressive feat for Stallone to have pulled off, especially since critics were mostly complimentary of the movie. He followed it up with yet another revisit, this time to the world of John Rambo. 2008's "Rambo" wasn't quite as well-received as "Rocky Balboa," but despite its ultra-violence clashing with its otherwise contemplative tone, the movie was similarly impressive for not being all-out nostalgia bait.

Arguably, Stallone should have left things there -- and for a while, he did. But then came 2019's "Rambo: Last Blood." In /Film's ranking of the "Rambo" films, "Last Blood" came in, well, last. The tortured Vietnam vet we first met in 1982's "First Blood" had disappeared long ago, with successive films in the franchise content to embrace gratuitous violence at the expense of any character study or exploration of the themes at the heart of the original film. Yet, somehow, "Last Blood" felt like the most egregious example. Critics certainly thought so, anyway, with Stallone's ostensible final "Rambo" installment garnering critical scorn.

That's where Netflix comes in. "Last Blood" is now taking the streamer's film charts by storm, giving John Rambo one final reprieve.