FilmJudge - Rambo

REVIEW

Rambo
2008
Certificate: 18 | Runtime: 91 | Director: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Paul Schulze

Vietnam veteran John Rambo (Stallone) now makes a living in Thailand, capturing snakes for entertainers and providing transport in an old PT boat. When a group of missionaries lead by Sarah Miller (Benz) and Michael Burnett (Schulze) ask for transportation up the river into war-torn Burma, Rambo initially refuses. However, he eventually does as asked and takes them to a remote Karen village. Some time later, the village is attacked by the Burmese army and many of the villagers and missionaries are killed or taken prisoner. Rambo is asked once again to travel to the village - only this time to take a group of mercenaries who are going to free the prisoners. But Rambo isn't the sort of man to do nothing when people are in danger.

You have to hand it to Sylvester Stallone. People said it was a bad idea to bring back Rocky, and he crafted what is easily the second best film of the series. People said it was a bad idea to bring back Rambo, and he's done exactly the same thing again. This offering isn't quite as thoughtful and contemplative as First Blood - though it's not entirely without conscience. But, perhaps crucially, it manages to sustain scenes of intense violence and thrilling action, without ever coming close to the levels of camp and cheese of the two original sequels.

Stallone has made it very clear that he's making a point with this film. He wants to draw attention to the horrific situation in Burma, where, incidentally, the Myanmar junta have banned the film. Admittedly, Rambo makes its points in big, broad strokes, but a subtle approach wasn't going to work. The scenes of Burmese soldiers attacking villages, using prisoners in sick games, and murdering people left, right and centre are not easy to watch, but that's the entire point.

The plot is wafer-thin. Once the missionaries have been captured, Rambo heads into the jungle with the team of mercenaries. They are a pretty stereotypical bunch of battle-hardened nutcases, but there's also a definite toughness to them. Of the group, Graham McTavish, who has his crazy dialled up to 11, and Matthew Marsden, are probably the best of the bunch. Benz and Schulze don't have to do much other than scream and cry, but they are fine. And as for Stallone, he knows Rambo like the back of his hand. The weariness is still there, but scratch the surface and the killing machine is ready to go once more. It's not a complicated performance, but one of complete presence.

Some will claim Rambo is too violent, and it might be unpleasant for many people to watch. There's an unashamed realism to the film's depiction of combat that I've not seen for quite a while. I also think it is a valid approach for the film to adopt. Not only might it open a few eyes, but seeing the brutal behaviour of the Burmese soldiers makes it so much more acceptable when they meet their own grizzly ends. Arms and legs fly off with aplomb, heads explode, guts fall out, and blood flows like wine. In the last 15 minutes of the film or so, I would estimate that we see about 200-300 people die on screen. But because of the direction Stallone has taken the film in, all of this is undeniably entertaining. It's carnage, but it's deserved carnage. The simple truth is that Rambo is, at its core, a film about killing people, and it handles that aspect really well. Stallone may not have created a masterpiece here, but what he has done is craft an intense, visceral and unquestionably powerful film, irrespective of whether you agree with its approach or not.

RECENT REVIEWS

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button