RAMBO
Director: Sylvester Stallone Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Matthew Marsden, Julie Benz, Graham McTavish, Paul Schultze, Ken Howard
Reviewed by PETER MALONE
Sylvester Stallone proved that at age 60 he could revive his iconic creation, Rocky Balboa, after five movies over a thirty year period. He adjusted the character of Rocky to his late 50s and made an agreeably emotional fight film.
At age 61, he resurrects his other iconic character, John Rambo, after three films over a 25 year period, still doing battle but not nearly so genial as Rocky.
Both characters are instantly recognisable world-wide – Rocky the emblem of underdog success (along with Bill Conti’s theme music), Rambo the emblem of fierce aggression, fighting for the underdog and, with the exception of the initial film, First Blood, amassing a huge body count.
For his final Rambo actioner, Stallone has Rambo working anonymously in Thailand. He is approached by a group of US evangelical missionaries (whose need to do good seems more important than the needs of the people) to take them into Burma with medicines and religious books. We know it will be a fraught journey because we have already been exposed to the ruthless Burmese army attacking the Karen rebels (which has been going on for sixty years and has been called a genocide), massacring, burning and looting and taking the young men for military service.
When the village where the missionaries are working is attacked, Rambo goes back with a group of tough mercenaries to rescue them. This happens in the rain and in the dark – and then they are pursued by a huge number of soldiers. All might seem lost until Rambo finds a machine gun nest and it is almost no contest.
This is where the violence becomes fierce and then brutal as the blood lust, no matter what the justification, takes over the characters – and, probably, the emotions of many in the audience. Stallone has his heart in the right place in supporting the Karens against the government and military, but his trigger finger is…
Reviewed by MARCUS SINCLAIR
Sylvester Stallone makes a welcome return to the screen in Rambo. Whether you like him (and I do) or not, he has shown over the years that he is a talent: screenwriter, director and actor. His performances in Copland (1997) and Rocky Balboa (2007) were exceptional and displayed a sensitivity that has remained hidden in his other movies where in he specialises as a super action hero, either it be as a boxer, cop or a soldier.
With his fourth screen outing as Rambo, ex-Vietnam veteran and later soldier-of- fortune, he now resides in South-east Asia, living a semi-monastic type of life and filling in his time as a catcher of snakes for the local entertainment industry. He is still haunted by the past. This is beautifully brought out by a series of subliminal type montages as he struggles to resist returning to Burma to save the well-meaning American, but naive missionaries who have entered the country illegally to help the poor villagers and convert them to Christianity.
In approximately seventy-five minutes, he skillfully establishes his character, and the background (the repression of the people by the ruling military junta) to the narrative which, all things taken into consideration, is rather slight. Stallone uses it simply as a framework to give his fans loads of the type of action they expect when they see or hear the name Rambo. And they won’t be disappointed. Outrageous, almost non-stop, it is delivered with a surefire expertise. He takes time in setting up his establishing shots, knows the right camera angle to use to build tension, and aided by clever cutting keeps the story moving, with the result that the viewers’ attention is held right up to the final credits. Yes, indeed, it’s great to have your back again, Sly!