- John Hansen
- December 26, 2025
All 10 ‘Rocky’/ ‘Creed’ films, ranked from chump to champ
For a half-century, Sylvester Stallone and his collaborators have explored the impact of boxing, friendship, family, the ability to throw a punch and – more
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- John Hansen
- November 22, 2021
If ‘Rocky IV’ can change, everyone can change
“Rocky IV” (1985) is my favorite “Rocky” sequel because it’s near-perfect in what it aims to do. In chronicling Rocky’s (Sylvester Stallone) toughest and most
- John Hansen
- August 9, 2021
‘The Suicide Squad’ is Gunn’s latest pop-art masterpiece
If the “Suicide Squad” franchise keeps going, I suppose we’ll get cringeworthy titles like “Suicide 3” and “Squad 4” and “SS5.” But I hope it
- John Hansen
- February 24, 2021
Allen finds farcical footing in ‘Bananas’ (1971)
“Bananas” (1971) is an early calling card of Woody Allen’s oeuvre (although he co-writes with Mickey Rose) as it’s driven by snort-worthy off-the-cuff lines about
- John Hansen
- February 22, 2020
‘Judge Dredd’ (1995) an entertaining critique of police states
“Judge Dredd” (1995) lacks nuance as it presents a 22nd century police state where Street Judges (cops) serve as judge, jury and executioner. But should
- John Hansen
- January 9, 2020
‘Rambo’ (2008) a shell-shocking portrayal of war
For the fourth “Rambo” film, simply titled “Rambo” (2008), director/co-writer Sylvester Stallone taps into one of the world’s longest-running civil wars. The Burma (aka Myanmar)
- John Hansen
- January 2, 2020
‘Rambo III’ (1988) is a fun (and unintentionally funny) actioner
Wading into the “Rambo” sequels, I braced myself for the point at which they’d get dumb. It doesn’t happen with the underrated “Rambo: First Blood
- John Hansen
- December 18, 2019
‘Rambo: Last Blood’ shrinks the scope for a brutally efficient rescue/revenge tale (Movie review)
“Rambo: Last Blood” is an efficient, brutal, gritty and appropriate capper (if it is indeed the capper) to Sylvester Stallone’s five-film series. It poetically marks
- John Hansen
- November 7, 2019
‘Rambo: First Blood Part II’ (1985) is pure Eighties action
“Rambo: First Blood Part II” (1985), following the 1982 masterpiece “First Blood,” is generally seen as the point at which “Rambo” turns into a dumb
- John Hansen
- September 19, 2019
‘First Blood’ (1972, 1982) explores physical, psychological brutality of war
With “Rambo: Last Blood” – Sylvester Stallone’s supposedly last (haha) go-around with the famous Vietnam veteran — hitting theaters this week, I’m taking a look