Thursday, August 7, 2008

Movie Review: John Rambo (2008)




Okay, a serious review of Rambo.

A group of missionaries seek Rambo's help to go up river into war-torn Burma to help poor villagers.
Rambo reluctantly assists.
They get hammered and the survivors kidnapped by the Burmese military.
A group of mercenaries seek Rambo's help to go up river into war-torn Burma to rescue the missionaries.
Rambo willingly assists.
They say, "Hey, Boatman, The Fuck do you think you're going?! You're the boatman. Stay with the boat."
They get pinned down and watch a truck-load of civilians get pushed out into a firing zone.
Rambo jumps into action and Jesus Christ your heart won't stop pounding till the lights rise in your living room.

This is bare-bones filmmaking at some of its greatest.
There is one story.
There is a defined good guy.
There is a well-defined bad guy.
There is no moral relativism.
Evil is evil.
Period.

This movie is eighty minutes of pulse-pounding adrenaline. The final thirty will leave you breathless as Rambo decimates the enemy.

They've rarely made movies like this since the eighties.

Since 2000, there's been this and 300 to provide even a hint of masculinity in the movies. Okay, so maybe it's not fair that most of the real men have either died or retired or have stopped getting work. (Come back, Gene Hackman. Come back, sir.)



For its Genre/Era/X: 5/5
Overall: 4/5

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