In the 4th installment of the internationally famous character known for singlehandedly waging wars against an abusive town’s sherrif and his officers in First Blood, the Russian army and their Vietnamese allies in Rambo: First Blood Part 2, and the Russians again, with a little help from the Afghans, in Rambo 3, John J. Rambo has grown wiser and shabbier, but still a lethal weapon deep inside. Along with some mercenaries, Rambo attempts to enter the world’s most unknown hell called Burma to free a group of missionaries from the clutches of the Burmese savages who kill and rape without remorse.
The film is set 20 years after we last saw Rambo in a village in Thailand. Rambo has become a secluded snake catcher and a "boatsman". A group of missionaries show up and demand that "the American" take them up the river into Burma so they can make a "change". Once there, the missionaries are attacked and taken hostage by the Burmese army. Rambo gets the news right after he has a dream that consists of flashbacks from the previous Rambo films and Colonel Trautman voice. Realizing his true identity that of a killing machine, Rambo ventures into Burma with a group of mercenaries to save the missionaries. The rest of the movie is your ordinary Rambo in the jungle searching for the hostages and sneaking up and killing bad guys.
Sylvester Stallone successfully directs the film, not hesitating to show the viewers the true acts of genocide, including one where some poor captives are forced to run across streams spiked with landmines for a game of bets by the Burmese soldiers on who will get blown up. The action scenes are intense, with plenty of blood and gore that might make some viewers squirm. Other than that, Jerry Goldsmith’s musical score returns in its original composition that gave me the feeling of pure nostalgia.
Stallone’s second go at revisiting the characters that made him a huge movie star, the first being 2006’s Rocky Balboa, will definitely draw attention from long time fans and lovers of old school action films.
Whether critics love it or not, the latest installment in the Rambo series isn’t going to be your worst nightmare!