When it came to making more money off his warrior franchise, Sylvester Stallone just copied 1985’s idiotically titled Rambo: First Blood Part II. This new film, simply called Rambo, again sees our Vietnam vet rescuing white Americans from the clutches of evil Asians "¦ this time the Burmese.
When we meet Rambo he’s living in northern Thailand, running a river boat. Pressured by a cute God-botherer, Rambo drops her and her Christian missionary buddies off up river in Burma. When these do-gooders are captured by the forces of evil, Rambo and a team of mercenaries embark on a rescue mission. What follows is a kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out battle.
While the film was shot in Thailand, is set in Burma and is about a bloodthirsty Vietnam vet, there’s no getting past the fact that these days Sylvester Stallone looks Cambodian. Or more precisely, he looks like a crumbling statue from Angkor Wat. His lumbering acting and delivery has a rock-like quality – he needs sub-titles more than the Asian actors.
Sly might argue he’s raising awareness about Burmese repression. But after a credit sequence that establishes a grim political reality, the film becomes a hyper-violent, vengeance fantasy with Burmese of all stripes reduced to Rambo’s own cartoon status.
And just what is Sly arguing for? American military intervention?
The film’s coarse right-wing agenda is distasteful, from the Christian missionary who needs to realise killing is necessary, to the main Burmese villain who’s not just a genocidal maniac but a gay-raping genocidal maniac. Most gobsmacking though is the level of graphic violence. As writer, director and star Sylvester Stallone unleashes carnage seldom seen outside of the goriest splatter movies.
Apart from a few tensely orchestrated sequences, the film seems to exist merely for sadistic spectacle.
If your stomach’s strong enough, you’ll get a few laughs at how far Stallone takes things, and from him grunting out tin-eared howlers like 'Killing’s as easy as breathing".
As a film that’s as mechanical and dated as a Rubik’s Cube, Rambo rates two stars.
