Rambo IV (imdb)
It’s been 20 years and Rambo’s been laying low, but now he’s back. And, at the ripe age of 60, he’s badder than ever. It seems that after the success of Rocky Balboa, Sylvester just couldn’t help himself and had go forward with a new Rambo. So, the movie that essentially defined the one-man army action genre is back to court a new generation of Rambo fans.
This time around, Rambo has been laying low in Thailand for 20 years. But, don’t think he’s a geriatric. He’s about the buffest looking 60 year old I’ve ever seen. I guess catching poisonous snakes for locals and operating a little boat service into the dangerous river waters of Burma/Myanmar keeps you young. He’s approached by missionaries who intend to go deliver medicine and bibles to Christians who are caught between the Burmese-Karen Civil war. While he declines at first, he’s moved by the faith (and possibly the kind and gentle looks) of one of the missionaries, Sarah (Julie Benz of Dexter fame), and decides to help them on their journey. Ten days later, the missionaries are captured after the village they are visiting is massacred by the Burmese army and their minister hires Rambo to lead a group of mercenaries to find them. Violence and gore ensue as Rambo stops at nothing to save Sarah.
It’s a pretty straightforward movie and while the wind up for the action took more than half the movie, it was actually paced rather quickly. It’s clear that Sylvester Stallone is reaching a bit further with this Rambo as even he must realize that times have changed since the 1980s, the Cold War, and our intense nationalism. A movie glorifying war and violence aren’t necessarily appropriate here in 2007. So, he layers in the juxtaposition of the horrible persecution of villagers in Burma on top of the usual “Rambo takes all comers” theme. In fact, the movie starts with a tremendously graphic montage of what I can only assume are true to life images of the persecution in Burma. I assume this is its attempt to show that Rambo is not here being violent only for the sake of violence.
Is the movie successful in playing out this subtext? Well, that’s another question all together. For the most part, the Rambo character communicates through alternated grunts and staring off into the horizon. None of the characters are overly well examined, though the leader of the band of mercenaries, Lewis (Graham McTavish), really steals the show with his gung-ho attitude and verbal assaults on all those around him.
But, let’s not fool ourselves. Despite any personal opinions against war and violence, anyone watching a Rambo movie isn’t watching for the complex story line or deep characterizations. It’s the blood that we’re after. And, Rambo delivers this in spades. It spares no details in envisioning the horrible atrocities committed by Burmese soldiers against the Christian farmers in the region. In one particularly memorable scene, you watch as they deploy mines in a rice patties and force villagers to run across. Those who make it to the other side are shot. The movie then ratchets up the gore as Rambo swoops in to exact his own brand of justice.
Rambo IV is, by far, one of the goriest movies I’ve seen, though the way the film is shot is so frenetic that it’s a little easier to stomach - either because you’re so confused by who’s killing who or because just blinking rapidly will be enough to miss half the dismemberments. Some have expressed some incredulity at the fact that limbs fall and heads explode on the impact of bullets. Truth be told, a closer examination of the weapons chosen by Rambo and his friends explains this rather well. Rambo empties a high-caliber machine gun at what is essentially point blank range and his sniper buddy just happens to carry a .50-caliber rifle instead of the standard Hollywood sniper’s bolt action piece. You can imagine the kind of damage both those pieces of equipment can do to a human body. If you can’t, watch an episode of FutureWeapons on Discovery. You’ll know all you need to know without subjecting yourself to the gruesome details.
All-in-all, Rambo IV is what it is - a Rambo movie. There’s little dialogue, excessive violence, and an ending that leaves you both happy that Rambo has once again made it out alive but a little miffed at how he got you to cheer for all that senseless killing.
3 out of 5 Rambo grunts
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