Rambo
Rambo and the Rambo films are really interesting. First Blood was a story about a Vietnam Vet who can't forget the war and is persecuted by townies who can't let go of it either. Then it changes into the reluctant hero who is called back into action over and over to help someone in need and does so by killing as many people as possible in as badass a way as possible.
Then there's also the titles. The first film was First Blood. Then there was Rambo: First Blood Part 2, then Rambo 3. There was no Rambo 2. Rambo 3 should have been something like Rambo 2: First Blood Part 3 or some equally unwieldy name. Now we have a fourth film simply called Rambo. That's not at all confusing...
Regarding this specific film, I'm not entirely sure what the point is. Rambo is living in Thailand, catching poisonous snakes that people will then taunt and try not to get bit for tourists. Some Christian missionaries show up wanting to go into Burma. He refuses but the woman in there convinces him. The whole time he keeps telling not to stick their noses in and that they can't change things. Unsurprisingly, the missionaries get captured by an evil Burmese general.
Of course, Rambo is hired because he knows the river better than anyone -- including the people who have lived there their entire lives. So it is this incredibly post-colonial story where it is up to the white man to set things right. What year is this? 2008 or 1908? On his boat Rambo even has some natives that help him and they don't get names or lines. They just sit there and do whatever Rambo tells them to do. At one point Rambo says that his men will stay by the boat but later they get captured near the boat and we don't even see them anywhere around. I guess they just disappeared.
Then there is the white woman who is basically the all caring all giving all agency-free model of femininity. She has a husband who is kind of a jerk and she gets Rambo to take them to Burma but once captured all she does is cower in the corner and wait for someone to save her. Luckily, even though she is in the captivity of all male soldiers for days she doesn't seem to get raped. Mainly they just leave her in a pig pen and look at her from time to time.
Which brings up the reason why she isn't raped. It just so happens that in addition to killing innocent villagers the main military bad guy also prefers to have sex with teenage boys. So killing people isn't enough. They have to make him extra evil by being "teh ghey" Moreover, because he doesn't speak English, and there is minimal subtitling, we get no idea why this guy is doing what he is doing.
Stallone's direction is worth mentioning, however. It is actually pretty good. The weird thing though is that if the viewer didn't know who Stallone or Rambo was, there are scenes where Rambo is shot exactly like a killer in a slasher pic. We see him sneaking around behind soldiers. We see him come up behind someone all out of focus and such. It really is just like the ways in which Jason or Leatherface are filmed.
two thumbs up
they sneak in a truck
but they have to leave on foot
where did the truck go?
