copyright © Jedo Dre 2011

I don't know what critics want from this movie.


When I was a young kid I used to think Rambo movies were bad movies. I had not even watched that much of them, but I knew it was about a half naked guy firing a machine gun from the hip, killing a bunch of foreign bad guys, and the thought of how unrealistic and stupid that is kept a grimace on my face.


Later, while my views on Rambo's artistic value were perhaps justified, I have come to understand and appreciate the adorable style that these movies consciously went for and for which guys liked them. Apart maybe from First Blood, these were the over-the-top stupid 80's macho action flicks and everyone was in on the joke.


So when you hear that Rambo is back with another movie, what are you to expect? Probably a shallow excuse of a storyline that is needed only to place an oiled up Stallone and his over-sized machine gun into some poor 3rd world country where cartoonishly evil bad guys don't need an excuse to be mauled down for the remainder of the movie.


What we got however, was much more than expected. Stallone, who has shown himself as a capable movie director, was now at the rudder and he improved the old formula of Rambo by mixing modern elements of angsty realism, and you know what, the two cultures mixed together perfectly.


The story still feels like a placeholder for the action - some hostage rescue - but Stallone is serious about it. The movie engages in a discussion about naivety, faith, cynicism and righteousness. Frankly, I cannot say that it succeeds at that. It is just too short to both move the action along and discuss serious philosophy.


Bottom line, the only thing I still remember is the action, and it is good. In a way, it is better than the old Rambo movies. The gritty realistic brutality fits Rambo more. It's like the new movie went all the way where the last couple of movies did not. It feels crisp, dark and...Rambo.

Rambo (the new one)