Movie Review – Rambo

Director – Sylvester Stallone.
Cast – Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden, Graham McTavish and Rey Gallegos.

Sylvester Stallone is 61 years of age. I’ll say that again. Sylvester Stallone is 61 years of age. The idea of him unsheathing his machete once again was greeted with universal sniggers when it was green lighted back in 2006. However, the ridicule subsided slightly after the critical and commercial comeback success of last years Rocky Balboa. Now it’s Rambo’s turn.

We first met John Rambo in 1982’s taut action thriller First Blood when he was a damaged and lonely Vietnam veteran. A hugely influential film, it was more interested in the psychology and survival instincts of Rambo. However, the two sequels that followed seemed to revel in the amount and style of the deaths and sacrificed character development for a cartoon approach. The same pattern was followed with Rocky, the first being nominated for nine Oscar’s and winning three - Stallone himself getting nominations in the Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay categories. Roger Ebert pronounced at the time that Stallone was destined to be the next Marlon Brando. However, as with the Rambo series he followed up Rocky with a succession of comic book films that saw his bank balance grow but his artistic credibility dwindle. Essentially last year’s Rocky Balboa was a love letter by Stallone to his defining character, an emotional and dignified farewell to an icon. As a result I was interested to see what direction this new Rambo would take.

The film opens with a brief examination of the life Rambo now leads. He resides in a small village near the Burmese border where he eeks out a living capturing and selling snakes and as a river guide. He is self sufficient with no discernable human relationships. He is cajoled, against his better judgement, into transporting some missionaries into Burma so they can distribute medicines and aid the downtrodden people. Soon after contact with them is lost and Rambo is persuaded to take a band of mercenaries into Burma to extract any of the missionaries left alive. Up until this point Rambo has had very little to say but of course, with Rambo his actions speak louder, much louder than his words. The action is a lot more believable than the two previous Rambo’s and it is quite harrowing at times. The style is resolutely serious and Rambo is a much more reluctant hero. The loneliness that he is shrouded in plays a big part in some of the decisions he makes and results in a poignant end scene.

The story is compact and fast moving and while it does have a slight 80’s feel to it this is not a bad thing. The orchestral score is spectacular, revisiting and reinventing the theme from First Blood. Stallone’s sad eyes and weary demeanour transform the Rambo from the earlier films into a sympathetic character who is a man with no country, no passion and no companionship.

The one major flaw in Rambo is the absence of a decent villain. It is crying out for a nemesis in the mould of First Blood’s Will Teasle who was played by Brian Dennehy. As it stands there is no real villain as such, just the senseless uniform brutality of the Burmese army.

Rambo has performed well at the box office in America, so well in fact that Rambo V has already been given the go ahead. It has nearly broken even having yet to be released in Europe. While not as well received critically as Rocky Balboa it has garnered many positive reviews worldwide. Sylvester Stallone has consistently fought back against seemingly insurmountable odds, both in his personal life and his career. With the release of last years Rocky Balboa and now Rambo it seems his unlikely comeback is complete.