After lying low
for 20 years, Rambo massacres 1000 men. Best sequel of the series. I'm
looking forward to Rambo V.
My weekly column, "The Devil's Hammer," is posted every Monday. The
Devil's Hammer on FTB. If you would like to be included on my
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Disgusted with humankind (he's seen it all and then some) John Rambo
(Sylvester Stallone) is eking out a solitary living commandeering a
leaky, slow boat on the Salween River in Northern Thailand.
Rambo reminds me of
the great iconic anti-hero Roy Batty: "I've seen things you people
wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I
watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those
moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."
Those demanding missionaries (that's Julie Benz from my favorite series,
Showtime's "Dexter") will not take "No" for an answer when they approach
Rambo to take them to the border where the Burmese-Karen civil war is
raging.
Because Sarah (Benz)
stands outside his hut in the thunderstorm, Rambo agrees to undertake
the dangerous river journey without pay. Leaving them off, Rambo returns
only to be confronted 10 days later by Colorado minister Arthur Marsh
(Ken Howard). The missionaries have "gone missing" and feared kidnapped.
He has hired a group of mercenaries led by Lewis (Graham McTavish) to
find and evacuate them.
(I interviewed McTavish on the Red Carpet at Planet Hollywood for the
premiere of "Resident Evil: Extinction". He was charming, gracious, very
slim and dashing, and answered all my non-appropriate Red Carpet
questions. Obviously, he's new to the ritual. I've since given up Red
Carpets because you must only ask celebrities 'What are you wearing?' if
you want a response.)
Rambo agrees to take
the mercenaries to the place where he dropped off the missionaries. Like
all monk-warriors, Rambo doesn't do small-talk or sing war songs. But he
does understand the skill and ideology of the mercenaries. When Lewis
tells Rambo to stay in the boat, he ignores the order and follows the
mercenaries inside the Seventh Circle of Hell compound.
The missionaries are not fairing well.
Hell breaks wide open. Body parts explode. Heads get blown off. Teenage
boys are going to love this.
After lying low for 20 years, Rambo massacres 1000 men. I wanted him to
yell at Sarah: "Happy now?"
You've got to give
Stallone credit. The task of directing and acting in this could not have
been easy. If he's not soaking wet, he's covered in mud. He certainly
does not need the money.
Stallone directs with skill and menace for the generation of moviegoers
who are now used to ultra-violence. He delivers the goods with excess
vigor. This is a violent, gory, blood-letting extravaganza. Jigsaw
(there's a "Saw 5" on the horizon) better up his game.
Stallone looks terrific and keeps the Rambo growl to a honorific "First
Blood" flashback. Without a villain to face %u2013 Rambo is now up
against a nasty army of sadistic rebels - McTavish delivers as the
arrogant, insult-baiting adversary who almost takes the movie from Sly,
but gets his payback by being wounded. He has to be carried out of the
jungle on a stretcher.
I don't know why they
held no press screenings or promotional screenings for "Rambo". Could
the studio really have been afraid of "Rambo"? I understand that the
press junket interviews were done without a pre-screening of the film.
This is highly unusual and was seen as forecasting a "stinker." (We
critics are being kept from seeing more movies every month!)
Written by Art Monterastelli and Sylvester Stallone (and based on
characters created by my friend and former neighbor when I lived in
Santa Fe, David Morrell), Rambo is still a man carrying around his
demons and regrets. Well, he now has a body count that requires a lot of
penance. If you are a fan of John Rambo, you will not be disappointed.
Will critics belittle
Michael Douglas for resuscitating Gordon Gekko and Harrison Ford for
putting back on that hat? When E.T. returns to Earth, will critics cry
"foul!"?
Victoria Alexander lives in Las Vegas, Nevada and answers every email.
You can contact Victoria directly at masauu@aol.com or by visiting
www.FilmsInReview.com.
RAMBO
Lionsgate
The Weinstein Co./Equity Prods./Millennium Films/Nu Image
Credits:
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Screenwriters: Art Monterastelli, Sylvester Stallone
Based on characters created by: David Morrell
Producers: Avi Lerner, Kevin King-Templeton, John Thompson
Executive producers: Jon Feltheimer, Peter Block, Harvey Weinstein, Bob
Weinstein, Danny Dimbort, Boaz Davidson, Trevor Short, Andreas
Thiesmeyer, Florian Lechner, Randall Emmett, George Furla
Director of photography: Glen MacPherson
Production designer: Franco Giacomo Carbone
Music: Brian Tyler
Costume designer: Lizz Wolf
Editor: Sean Albertson
Cast:
John Rambo: Sylvester Stallone
Sarah Miller: Julie Benz
Dr. Michael Burnett: Paul Schulze
School Boy: Matthew Marsden
Lewis: Graham McTavish
Arthur Marsh: Ken Howard
Running time -- 93 minutes
MPAA rating: R
