Rambo goes home

angst and frustration From Rambo First things first. John Rambo aint John McLane (the guy used to Die Hard at the wrong time at the wrong place). And he sure aint Rocky Balboa (the underdog who has to train hard for the fight). John Rambo is a mentally-disturbed, scarred-for-life, g eared-for-death Vietnam War veteran who has made his peace with what he really is: the best war combat killing machine the world has ever seen, ready to “Live for nothin. Die for somethin.”

A lion, no matter how old, will not eat grass, right? Rambo is a beast; he has never exhibited traits of being human or humane to those who intimidate him. To expect him to suddenly develop a vulnerability to the changing world in the face of technology and competition like John McLane or Rocky Balboa would be to shake the very foundation of this no-holds-barred shoot-em-up, blow-em-to-bits franchise.

It is not only unimaginable but also would’ve been extremely tragic to see Rambo worry about calcium deposits in his joints, fight loneliness by talking to a mangy old dog called Punchy, complain about technology, cry over the pangs of parenting and fade into a shadow of the man he used to be. Besides, that’s already been done by Balboa and John McLane. Thankfully, director-writer Stallone hasn’t done any of that here.

Rambo and vulnerable? You’ve got to be kidding me.

The world really hasn’t changed in the savage jungles on the Thailand-Burma border. There was killing and injustice then. So there is now.

If Rocky was always about getting up no matter how many times you’ve been knocked down, Rambo has always been about blowing their brains out before they get a chance to think. He’s not an optimist. He is a man who lacks faith or reason to live. He’s seen the system fail, he’s had governments lie to him, he’s had his share of betrayals and things dear to him snatched away (right from the first scene of the Rambo franchise). He’s a drifter who’s never been able to go home and sleep after the trauma war and killing have caused him.

The only reason he knows to live is to kill for what he believes in. Not for the country, but for himself. The Rambo franchise is the manifestation of this angst of cynicism and release of rage. It’s not about fighting for right; it’s about giving the devil his due.

The philosophy of Rambo movies really is about getting all the frustration out and blowing it up to smithereens by pumping heavy-duty doses of ammunition into all that’s threatening to take away things that matter in life: Freedom (Part One), Love (Part Two), Friends (Part Three) and now Faith.

When a group of Christian missionaries who are about to instil the faith again in the killing machine is taken hostage, it’s back to the mercenary in him to set things right again because genocide-causing-evil fears no God.

There’s a lyrical quality to this release of angst, even if graphic. Bad guys are blown into pieces of flesh and splatter all around the screen like fruit pulp in a mixer. Violent, no doubt, but trust Sly Stallone to give it an emotional core; a lost soul searching for peace, only to be constantly reminded about the brutality of the world and the truth about who he really is.

Yes, people who aren’t used to Rambo might find the lines extremely corny but seriously, they are not half as corny as the long exchanges between Rambo and Trautman or Trautman and the power-hungry officers in the first three.

This is nirvana for hardcore Rambo fans. The rest enter at the risk of having their brains blown away.

Rambo Genre Action Director Sylvester Stallone Cast Sylvester Stallone, Julie Benz, Matthew Marsden Storyline Rambo leads a bunch of mercenaries to rescue missionaries taken captive by the Burmese Army Bottomline Bloody good as ever!