Twenty years after defeating the entire Russian army in a vest, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) is living peacefully in Thailand running a longboat up and down the Salween River. At least he was until some Christian missionaries went and got kidnapped in Burma. Now he’s back to killing bad folk again - just like the one man eighties war machine that he is. Headband and all.
Somehow this is Sylvester Stallone at 62 years old revisiting a character he first made famous in his thirties. No dream, Rambo is back at your local fleapit and quite possibly wearing a girdle.
They say:
MTV: "Even in a cinematic age as murderous as our own, the movie is exceptionally violent."
Variety: "Doesn't risk gumming up its carnage with much of a plot."
Empire: "Rambo feels like the trailer for an adventure that never really ignites."
We say:
We need John Rambo. In an age of mistrust and bureaucratic cowardice, it is comforting to know there is a hulking great protector to keep the world in check.
Rambo will fight to the death for all of us, even if that means uncaging the beast within and literally tearing a man's windpipe from his body.
He is such a sad character though - a soul permanently alone, trapped in a hell of recurring nightmares with past atrocities played out in his head like video nasties. If you cannot feel just a little bit sorry for Rambo, with Stallone's performance so emotive in the quieter scenes you almost shed a tear, then your heart is harder than the big man himself.
To say that this latest and, if rumours are to be believed, ongoing instalment of the Rambo franchise is a return to form is to undersell its achievement. Apart from the back to nature brutality of First Blood, the popcorn sequels have delivered little more than sweaty bloodlust and questionable politics. This time around the tone remains closer to the original.
While it might not be stripped back in terms of violence (it is possibly the most vicious cinematic release since Korean revenge thriller Oldboy in 2003), Rambo is stripped back in terms of weaponry. For the most part Stallone's time ravaged solider uses whatever is to hand: a homemade machete, a swiped machine gun turret and, in one awesome moment of annihilation, an exploding mine/ claymore combo.
This lean approach makes Rambo look old school and thankfully lacking in CGI - and this, against all the odds, is what makes Rambo work.
Furthermore there is no attempt here to humanise the enemy. They are a horrific, depraved band who deserve to be killed in the most violent way possible. Stallone makes the politics that simple: black and white. This is not a movie to explore the grey, save that for directors Michael Winterbottom or Robert Redford. Rambo is about dishing out justice the only way he knows how - with carnage.
It is a guilty pleasure that much of the blood and guts action is so intense and thrilling it verges on sexy. Not as cartoony as parts two and three and more reflective on the aftermath, there are times when you simply cannot catch your breath. Is what you are seeing real? Did that bullet really just blow a guy in half?
With little or no subtext concerning the currently deplorable situation in Burma (except perhaps implying an even more fervent need to fight fire with fire), Rambo could be seen as a Soldier of Fortune subscriber's wet dream.
It is absolutely not subtle, yet offers an intriguing irony. Rambo hates violence, deplores it, but unfortunately he is so damn good at it. In Burma, as with so many other warzones springing up around the world like unattended campfires, perhaps this is the only way to get things done? Stallone certainly thinks so anyway.
The plot is really no more than an idea. This can slow the film down in its early stages, particularly once the joy of hearing familiar First Blood theme 'It's a Long Road' instrumental has passed. Much like an episode of 24, you might find yourself hankering after more John Rambo the same as you would Jack Bauer.
The other characters are worthwhile enough, mostly the mercenaries with their chalk and cheese personalities rubbing each other (and Rambo) up the wrong way. Though Sly's absence is often felt when we see yet another shot of a riverboat plodding up the Salween.
That Rambo is not given everything to do introduces a welcome touch of realism, especially during the climatic battle. While not exactly taking a back seat, Rambo's contribution bolsters the fight rather than wins it singlehandedly. He does look fantastic mind - more of a bull than ever before and surprisingly fond of casual linen trousers.
Stallone is vastly underrated as a writer too. His screenplay for Rocky was perfectly constructed (he won an Oscar for it) and even here he crafts poetry out of more over the top slaying than an episode of Itchy and Scratchy. Try Rambo mumbling, "When you're pushed, killing's as easy as breathing" or "Live for nothing, die for something". They are as wonderfully absurd as this whole loopy endeavour.
It may be unlikely to edge out Citizen Kane in the Greatest Movie Ever stakes, yet watching Rambo kill more liberally than Satan is far more enjoyable. He is back and back fighting. Long may he stay.
Extras:
Well worth getting, this. The liquidy Blu-Ray violence is beyond graphic, like you're down on the farm and a sheep has just exploded - it's everywhere!
A literate, knowing audio commentary from Stallone is the extras highlight. If anyone still thinks this guy is just a mumbling idiot then they really need to open their ears and listen.
The featurettes justify a quick skim to get your breath back following the main feature (particularly the one about Burma's real humanitarian crisis) - though don't say a lot more about the movie’s lengthy gestation period that you couldn't have guessed anyway.
Trailers and deleted scenes round out the disc - the latter largely of the talky kind (see gentle Sly wash the pretty lady's foot - ahh) and do perhaps highlight the great man's tendency to overdo an impassioned monologue. They were wisely cut for the sake of more death.
In summary buy it and put a bigger TV on your Christmas wishlist.
CAST
Sylvester Stallone
Julie Benz
Matthew Marsden
Graham McTavish
DIRECTOR
Sylvester Stallone
TIME
91 mins
POSTED...
Sun 24 Feb at 11:37am
