Rambo is back and better than ever.  The patriotic (aka right wing) icon returns to take out basically the entire Burmese army.  Whatever Rambo lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in pure action and ultraviolence.  This is easily the goriest film in years and makes SAW 4 look like a slow ride to grandma’s house.  I doubted that Sly Stallone could make a good film out of the Rambo franchise but he proved me wrong once again, much like he did with the surprisingly effective Rocky Balboa.  Stallone strips away the cartoonish goofiness of Rambo 3 in favor of a gritty and sometimes repulsive display of carnage.

 John Rambo is leading a relatively quiet life wrangling poisonous snakes in Burma when he is asked by a group of missionaries to help them get up the river where they can take medical supplies and food to the repressed people who live there under the tyranny of the military and its sick leader who enjoys molesting boys and killing entire villages.  Stallone does not shy away from the carnage here and the result can be very disturbing as children are killed on camera and women are beaten and sexually assaulted.  After the missionaries are captured (including a pretty liberal do gooder, who Rambo falls for), its up to Rambo and a ragtag group of mercenaries to rescue the seemingly doomed do gooders.  I usually feel uneasy with Stallone’s right wing politics, but he does make good points throughout the film (mostly when people are reloading) about standing up to evil and the film is based on a real life genocide that is happening right now in Burma.  It’s a compelling backdrop for this installment of Rambo.

 Rambo is loud, fast, and sick.  It’s not for the faint of heart, but it moves quickly and occasionally makes a good point about the horrors of war and the even greater horror of standing by and doing nothing while peaceful people are slaughtered.  Rambo is getting rave reviews from moviegoers, and you can put me right in there with them.  It clocks in at a lean 93 minutes and is well worth your time and money. 

 Film Grade:  B+ 

• Tweet