So pictures from the new, fourth Rambo film — now entitled simply John Rambo, after having gone through a host of silly monikers — have leaked online, including the above one, which to me makes Sylvester Stallone look like an animal wrangler on the set of Snakes on a Plane.

Against long odds, Stallone pulled off a marvelous feat with Rocky Balboa; he showed he really got the root appeal of the character, and went back to his roots in an interesting way. I’m more skeptical about his ability to do the same sort of thing with the character of Rambo, who is a relic of Reagan-era machismo in not insignificant ways. That said, I’d much rather see this sort of autumnal career arc from Stallone — involved, hands-on, really trying — than a flicker-fade of more block-headed genre tripe. It makes for nice contrast with all these discussions and stories about newbies on the scene.