The Earth-Toned Pill

So last night it appeared as though it was shaping up to be a guys' night out, and my thought was that Rambo was just what the doctor ordered for such an occasion. Because really, what's better than a good old fashioned, gory shoot-em-up when you're with your buds?

Let me give you a quick summary at what you're looking at with this one:

John Rambo has effectively 'retired' to Thailand to quietly live out the rest of his life when a group of Christian missionaries shows up asking Rambo to lead them up a river into Burma, currently a hell-on-Earth that is home to a decades long civil war.

Rambo drops them in, and once it is later discovered that they are captured by a group of Burmese troops, Rambo is contracted by their church's pastor to go in once again with a group of mercenaries in order to recover them.

But really, its not the story you are going to the theater to see... To see Rambo for any other reason just sets you up for dissapointment. If you're in my age bracket or older, you go to a Rambo movie expecting nothing more than pure action, plain and simple. And in this respect, Rambo certainly delivers; ultimately, the viewer is treated to a guns n gore-fest the likes of which I have not personally seen since the martial arts blood bonanza that was The Story of Ricky.

Sly is obviously at that point in his life/career where he wants to tie up the loose ends and go out with a proper bang, and I think he did admirably with both Rocky Balboa and Rambo. Both films served their purpose perfectly, and although Rocky Blaboa is a more intelligent and heart-felt film, Rambo still succeeds in delivering a great action flick while still tying up any remaining sentimental feelings for the franchise that linger.

Ultimately, John Rambo in this movie is a much more subdued character than I would have otherwise expected. The film opens with footage from Burma, particularly from the recent crackdown on Burmese monks. There is also a scene where government troops rather brutally kill a group of civilians, obviosuly setting up Rambo's raison d'etre into the conflict, and one of his main sources of emotional conflict. Throughout the movie, Sly is featured prominently but doesn't say much, and once the action really gets rolling he comes off more as a member of an ensemble cast rather than the clear star of the film. There is also an active effort to connect to the previous films, particularly through the use of a dream sequence that used footage from the other movies and a few short action sequences that hinted at the amazing military skills that Rambo used commonly in his prime.

The supporting cast is rather adequate for the task, composed largely of relatively unknown actors, but characters such as the female antagonist played by Julie Benz were good choices for the focus of much of Rambo's internal conflict during the film. The group of mercenaries that Rambo works with for about last third of the film are fleshed out just enough to be interesting, yet not enough to take totally away from Sly.

The action (or better gore) throughout the movie seemed to me like a cross between Saving Private Ryan and Faces of Death, and there seemed to be a liberal use of CGI mixed in with real FX to simulate bodies or heads exploding, limbs being blown off, and people disembowled. One things got rolling, the blood flowed freely by the 50 gallon drum of it...

The final big action sequence, in which Rambo decimates an entire line company of Burmese troops before slashing their evil, child molesting commander wide open with a homemade blade, was action-packed and quite memorable. But once again, what stood out the most to me was the fact that while Rambo saved the day, he was very much just one part of the whole instead of the one man army of the past films. I may make it sound like a bad thing, but in the end it's really not, because it seemed like a nice subtle way of the character 'just fading away', as Douglas MacArthur would put it...

In the end, go see Rambo if you want some good ole' fashioned American blood n guts action. For something with more substance, obviously you have elsewhere to look. I'll give this one 3 stars, mainly due to the fact that while it isn't a great movie, it's great at what it was intended for.