Rambo (Movie Review)

I'm not saying I saw this movie, but if I did I'd probably admit it wasn't as awful as I'd expected. Which isn't at all to say it was good.

Rather, I'd seen the previous Rambo films when I was a kid small enough to be traumatized by the violence, though I discounted it as being fiction/fantasy in large part to protect myself from the harsh reality of the world beyond my bubble.

But in hindsight, scenes from Rambo became a laughable collage, a mockery of reality that was often further parodied in sketch comedy shows.

So when this newest installment came out, I figured if nothing else, it'd be good for a laugh.

But if I were to see it — because, remember, I'm not about to incriminate myself here — I'd probably say it's far too violent/bloody to get in a good laugh.

Though when the violence died down towards the end, I did burst out laughing when John Rambo ripples his cheek, the closest he can come to mustering a tear.

Anyway. In this Rambo, the Vietnam Veteran killing machine is working as a boatman in Thailand, and is enlisted to help some American missionaries make their way to war-torn Burma ("Myanmar" to everyone outside of the U.S. and the U.K.). Naturally, things go terribly wrong and Rambo is forced to kick some very serious butt.

Some unbelievable things happen (go figure), but I've got to at least give Sylvester Stallone props for underscoring the human rights violations reportedly occurring in Burma (which mirror what we've also seen/heard of Darfur in Africa).

Otherwise, though, this film was mostly what I'd expected it to be — just a little too violent to laugh about until the very end.

FINAL GRADE: C-