Jared J. H. CatapanoRambo - A Man's Man
February 28th 2008 00:41
Rambo 4 was released last week, so a bunch of friends and myself went to watch it on Tight-Arsed Tuesday night at my local multi-plex.
Rambo picks up as many years it has been since the over the top Rambo III.
John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), is eeking out a living in Western Thailand gathering snakes for a village snake show, as well as ferrying people up and down the river in his ramshackle boat.
He is weather beaten, getting older, gotten bitter and has been repressing his war-god persona for years.
A group of Christian Missionaires arrive at the village, seeking transport up river into war-torn Burma to deliver medical supplies and hope to the violently supressed Christian population.
After a bit of sweet talking from the lone female missionary (Dexter's Julie Benz), Rambo agrees and takes them up river.
After an altercation with river pirates who Rambo dispatches, the missioaniries head off into the jungle, and thankfully as Rambo sees it, out of his quiet life.
The group arrives at the village not long before a battallion of Burmese soldiers does, who proceed to rape the village, killing men, women and children indescriminatly before heading back to thier base with the missionaries.
Rambo is then pursuaded by the head of the missionaires church to take a squad of Mercs to where he dropped off the missionaires. Giving into the War-God inside, Rambo packs his bow, a very large knife and sets off on a mission of rescue, both of the innocent missionaires as well as his own torn soul.
What follows is a completly mind-blowing, visceral explosion of violence as Rambo takes on the Burmese army with the help of the Mercs. Taking no prisoners, giving no quarter, Rambo is BACK baby, and he's bringing supressed male-ness with him.
This is not for the ladies, but for guys like me, it unleashes something deep, primeval, something missing in our lives. I'm not talking about indescriminatly killing people, but being able to step up to impossible odds, fight tooth and nail with everything you have and emerge victorious.
The viloence is so all-consuming at times that comprehension must be turned off, while you sit back in your chair, barely controlling the urge to scream like a cave-man, while your eyes soak it all in, waiting for your brain to catch up and wonder, 'Jeez, what the hell IS this?'
The story is almost non-existant, but with a spectacle such as this, it isn't really needed. It's Good vs Evil, Right vs Wrong, a simple movie with a powerful message; get off your butts and start fighting!
Or as Rambo quips, 'Live for nothing, or die for something'.
Stallone planned this as wake-up call to the world about the current atrocities being commited in Burma by the ruling military junta, and boy does it.
Perhaps this is why other Iraq-based movies such as Lions for Lambs and The Kingdom have fallen flat at the box office. Too much guilt being placed on the audience instead of entertaining them.
Stallone's message may be somewhat drowned in blood, but he is old-school, and right now the world needs old-school solutions towards apathy in the Western world towards the rest of the world.
We need to be shown these levels of violence because worse goes on in reality every day. We need someone to lead the way, people of action instead of guys in suits running the world like a business.
Rambo, if you we're real and ran for president, you would win in a landslide, and boy howdy, you would get my vote.
Rambo is one of the greatest action spectaculars of the DECADE!
Guys, you have a duty, as MEN, to see this.
8/10
Rambo picks up as many years it has been since the over the top Rambo III.
John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), is eeking out a living in Western Thailand gathering snakes for a village snake show, as well as ferrying people up and down the river in his ramshackle boat.
He is weather beaten, getting older, gotten bitter and has been repressing his war-god persona for years.
A group of Christian Missionaires arrive at the village, seeking transport up river into war-torn Burma to deliver medical supplies and hope to the violently supressed Christian population.
After an altercation with river pirates who Rambo dispatches, the missioaniries head off into the jungle, and thankfully as Rambo sees it, out of his quiet life.
The group arrives at the village not long before a battallion of Burmese soldiers does, who proceed to rape the village, killing men, women and children indescriminatly before heading back to thier base with the missionaries.
Rambo is then pursuaded by the head of the missionaires church to take a squad of Mercs to where he dropped off the missionaires. Giving into the War-God inside, Rambo packs his bow, a very large knife and sets off on a mission of rescue, both of the innocent missionaires as well as his own torn soul.
What follows is a completly mind-blowing, visceral explosion of violence as Rambo takes on the Burmese army with the help of the Mercs. Taking no prisoners, giving no quarter, Rambo is BACK baby, and he's bringing supressed male-ness with him.
The viloence is so all-consuming at times that comprehension must be turned off, while you sit back in your chair, barely controlling the urge to scream like a cave-man, while your eyes soak it all in, waiting for your brain to catch up and wonder, 'Jeez, what the hell IS this?'
The story is almost non-existant, but with a spectacle such as this, it isn't really needed. It's Good vs Evil, Right vs Wrong, a simple movie with a powerful message; get off your butts and start fighting!
Or as Rambo quips, 'Live for nothing, or die for something'.
Stallone planned this as wake-up call to the world about the current atrocities being commited in Burma by the ruling military junta, and boy does it.
Perhaps this is why other Iraq-based movies such as Lions for Lambs and The Kingdom have fallen flat at the box office. Too much guilt being placed on the audience instead of entertaining them.
Stallone's message may be somewhat drowned in blood, but he is old-school, and right now the world needs old-school solutions towards apathy in the Western world towards the rest of the world.
We need to be shown these levels of violence because worse goes on in reality every day. We need someone to lead the way, people of action instead of guys in suits running the world like a business.
Rambo, if you we're real and ran for president, you would win in a landslide, and boy howdy, you would get my vote.
Rambo is one of the greatest action spectaculars of the DECADE!
Guys, you have a duty, as MEN, to see this.
8/10
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