Synopsis
Rambo must confront his past and unearth his ruthless combat skills to exact revenge in a final mission.
Directed by Adrian Grunberg.
Starring Sylvester Stallone.
Review
Yet another series I was not acquainted with, but thankfully having the day off I watched First Blood before heading off to see this one. I'm not sure I needed much knowledge beyond "he's a green beret who knows his shit."
Rambo has been looking after Gabrielle for years, life has been pretty good. As her future is starting to change Gabrielle decides she wants to find her birth father to ask him some questions. This doesn't go down well with anyone but she decides to tell them she's going to a friend's place and heads there anyway.
Driving across the border she goes to her friend Jezel who has tracked her father down for her. It's clear that Jezel has changed a lot since they've been apart and after an unsuccessful visit with her dad she convinces her that a night out is what she needs to forget about the whole thing and relax. They go to a club and that's the last time anyone sees Gabrielle.
When Rambo learns that she's gone to Mexico he sets off after her, his investigation leads him to the territory of a notorious gang who are unwilling to give up their new property.
The film is an incredibly short 90 minutes long, not just for the fact it's 90 minutes but it ramps up the action so fast that you get to the end in what seems like record speed. Don't expect to be here for the storyline, while it has the makings of an excellent base it's clear that they really wanted a blood spurting mess of action... and in that respect this was a massive success.
Had I not see any of the other films before this I think I would still get a sense of the character but I wouldn't have been able to appreciate the trauma behind it all. You can tell he's got some kind of combat background and from the fact he's built himself a warren of tunnels and makes his own weapons you know there's something major in the backstory.
It could be a stand alone movie as it is but it probably would have been a better one with some more character work.
Everyone plays to their character well and the sheer volume of violence they all manage to bring to the screen with mostly fitting reactions is incredible. The amount of extra characters is something to behold and I particularly liked the way the gang comes together when Rambo goes hunting for them.
We're introduced to Carmen who is on her own hunt like Rambo, sadly she is a little underused and is mainly a way to get Rambo out of trouble so he can get to the next part of the film. Her story is summed up pretty quickly and this could easily have been developed into a bigger part.
Stallone... What do you want me to say? He's here to kick ass in the only way Stallone can. He does the crazed thing really well and I liked the way his parental instincts kicked, but there isn't a whole lot of acting to deal with in this really.
I want to avoid spoilers but there are a couple of emotional scenes that are done quite well and make a nice contrast with the "all hell breaks loose" action.
Let's just get to that action, shall we? Rambo basically Home Alones the shit out of his property. I'm honestly surprised that there wasn't the inclusion of some Wile E. Coyote traps to get a bit of everything in there. I enjoyed the montage of him kitting the place out, it really worked and built the anticipation of what was to come.
If there's one thing I knew before seeing this film it's that nothing was going to be subtle and the way he gets the gangs attention for the finale really threw subtle out the window. Sometimes you just need ridiculous violence, this was pretty ridiculous.
What you should do
It might not have a lot of substance but it's worth watching if you need some gratuitous violence.
Movie thing you wish you could take home
I've always wanted a tunnel network and some secret passageways.
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