When I first heard of John Rambo taking another trip to the big screen, I couldn’t contain my excitement. I mean, who doesn’t love sequels? Sure, they disappoint most of the time, but like a moth to a flame, moviegoers can’t resist. In the case of Rambo, he’s such an iconic and sympathetic character that you have to just check in and see what’s new with him.
Here’s the rundown on the fourth installment of Rambo. Our favorite bow-and-arrow toting, knife-wielding hero is living in Burma, Thailand catching cobras and living the “simple” life. A war has broken out and innocent killings have become widespread. Missionaries from Colorado trying to reach the war zone need John Rambo’s boat. It takes a little bit of persuasion (from a beautiful blonde, no less) and he agrees. Once the missionaries start helping the helpless town, the government invades and starts killing everyone in sight. The missionaries are captured and taken. Rambo is sought out by their head Pastor and is joined by selfish mercenaries. Cue senseless violence.
Now, maybe my imagination is too soft, but I really wanted to see Rambo married with little soldiers running around. You know, living the good life. But just like the movie’s tagline - Heroes never die… they just reload. And good ol’ Rambo was ready for the fight in this film.
I can go on about the story, which, honestly, is not half bad, but the blood and violence is beyond excessive. I’m a fan of action movies and I like watching things blow up just as much as anyone else. But like any other flawed sequel, too much emphasis is put on outdoing the previous installment. So, proceed to watch this movie with caution as the kill-count is outrageous. If you can’t stand every other scene someone getting their head chopped off, their torso blown off or someone being blown to pieces, I don’t think this film is for you.
