If you're going into Rambo expecting it to be a stupid, popcorn action flick like First Blood Part 2, then you're in for a surprise the second the movie begins. Immediately, you're witnessing real-life footage of despair, torture, and death. Not to be outdone, once the actual film gets underway, you'll see a truck pull up to a rice field with soldiers forcing a group of terrified civilians out. The soldiers then throw a few mines into the field and make the civilians run across it. One unfortunate person is blown into nothingness, and the others are then shot to death due to their unwillingness to move further. Chances are, if you did have a bag of popcorn, you were too shocked by this double whammy of scenes to eat any of it.
Rambo has more in common with the original film (First Blood) in terms of vibe and rawness, except, instead of taking place in a small town against some police officers and the National Guard, it occurs in the country of Burma, known to be one of the worst places on the planet thanks to its harsh military rule. Because of this, the entire movie is very grim, with the only "uplifting" moment happening seconds before the ending credits show up. Rambo is not for those with a weak stomach, as it will show countless people being killed, in detail, in various ways, from men's arms and legs getting chopped off, to women being raped and shot, and children getting stabbed and thrown into fires. You'll also see a ton of rotting corpses and decapitated heads hanging from sticks. Really, it's the type of movie you shouldn't let young children see in fear that it's going to screw them up for quite some time.
You might think this sounds very excessive and unnecessary, especially for a Rambo film, but it's not pointless; Rambo is basically a cinematic vehicle making light of the tragic things going down in Burma on a daily basis. That's not to say the previous Rambos didn't have a point to them: First Blood and Part 2 were about the treatment of Vietnam veterans, and III was about the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. However, Rambo does the best at driving its point home with the cruel treatment of Burmese people. What's most surprising, though, is the stuff depicted in the film, while accurate, is tame compared to the more terrible atrocities that happen in real-life. And it's not that they couldn't show them, but that Stallone himself said, on one of the DVD extras, he couldn't bring himself to putting any of them on camera due to how vile they were. Honestly, I think that was a good decision on his part, since I don't think he would want people to stop watching halfway because of extreme violence. I mean, the movie is pretty graphic enough as it is, so that's saying something.
Now, isn't it amazing that I've managed to go through three paragraphs without actually talking about John Rambo's role in this movie? That's because it doesn't really feel like the focus is on him. It does have some Ramboey moments, though, like when he kills a group of soldiers using only a bow and non-exploding arrows, and literally opening a guy's throat using his right hand. Then there's the absolutely absurd, final battle sequence... Rambo acquires a turret that has an infinite amount of ammunition. Let's just say half the soldiers that got hit (about 150) couldn't walk, even if they wanted to.
However, the actual Rambo character doesn't get much development or dialogue (actually, there really isn't much of that for anyone), and acts more as a deus ex machina for the "supporting" cast, consisting of Christians and mercenaries. In past films, you can see that this supposed Super Soldier is constantly struggling whenever he's thrown into unknown situations that he has to deal with on the go, and is usually pushed way past his breaking point in the process. He's just an unlucky guy with the fortunate skills to survive, and you can clearly see that. You won't get that feeling in this movie. I guess people can argue that, because he's older, he's more wise and in control... but I don't buy that. In the end, Rambo is just a public service announcement about Burma, and while it is an action-type film, it's not of the popcorn variety. Rambo is a movie you should watch, but it's something you would really only watch once or twice in a five year period. A rental, really.
Overall Rating: 6/10
You can also see this review on VideoCritics. If you spot this review anywhere else, I didn't post it there.