When effectively rebooting the Bond series with Pierce Brosnan’s debut as the spy in ‘Goldeneye’ the tagline used as part of the marketing for the film was ‘You Know the Name, You Know the Number’. A well established character, brand or icon is afforded this luxury of familiarity as well as the fact that loyal audiences are often happy being presented with more of the same. ‘Rambo’ similarly plays on our knowledge of the mans capabilities and his history as a soldier of war. This fourth instalment sees the Vietnam veteran reluctantly unnestled from his peaceful existence in Thailand, to aid and assist the plight of charity workers held captive in neighbouring Burma. You might feel a review should give some more time to the premise or story. However, while we are treated to a prologue giving us some insight into the Burmese civil war, the film-making on show is one of a very simple construct - the setting is war torn and surrounded by jungle, the villains are bad simply for the sake of being bad and a substantial artillery of weapons is readily available. After a 15 year gap Sylvester Stallone’s return to one of his two career defining roles is titled simply ‘Rambo’ and as with Bond no further expansion is required as to what to expect.

For purists the inevitable issue is what value, beyond monetary, lies in revisiting the character. Through a dream the audience is reminded of the ghosts of Rambo’s past and similarly we are reminded of the depth of ‘First Blood’ and automatically you find yourself rooting for his guerilla tactics and riled for the first appearance of his mud smeared face. The niggling suspicion emerges though that we are being cheated of the same physicality we know of ‘First Blood’ and its lesser sequels. We are reminded of the inevitability of Rambo’s call to action and his killer instincts, however the promise of these instincts and survival tactics soon fizzle. While you may forgive the movie for not attempting to match modern action stakes, to veer wide of the mark set by its own predecessor 20 years ago, delivering farcical action comprised of human torsos somehow exploding from within, seemingly made entirely of raspberry jam is bordering on criminal. In place of any innovative stunts or set pieces the emphasis seems to be on lightweight gore and a multiplying body count more familiar to straight-to-DVD bargain bins.

Despite banking on nostalgic reverence for the earlier movies what also becomes apparent is that Rambo himself is front and centre for very little of the film. He almost becomes a supporting character to the story of the aid workers held hostage. Barely uttering a word throughout, the intention may be to portray a hermetic, withdrawn man nursing old wounds however Stallone’s expressionless delivery reduces this to low impact filler while we wait for blood to be spilt. Once the carnage ensues, the character is relegated to being the gruff, solemn member of a group of mercenaries. To populate a one man show with two separate groups of characters within a film only 90 minutes long, keeping the hero off screen creates the sense some lazy tactics have been employed to distract us from Stallone’s approaching OAP status. Our man of action in no way carries the film and is surrounded by characters, not one worth singling out for any level of interest.

Your enjoyment of this movie will be entirely dependant on your willingness to leave demands for serious art at the door and take nothing seriously. In fact there will be no requirement of any form of mental faculty. This is hampered by the brief attention given to human suffering in Burma, particularly those mutilated by landmines in some early scenes, which comes off as being in poor taste with what follows. The film seems to embrace the inevitability of diminishing returns, asking us to accept nothing more than a guns blazing approach and a film style no different to that of the movies made 20 years ago. Viewed through this lense, the film succeeds at underachieving, yet come the final show down you realise the distance the man has kept from the heart of the action and this trace of cynicism taints our guilt free enjoyment of the movie.

Rambo Death Chart

Official ‘Rambo’ Movie Website/ ‘Rambo’ IMDB Page/ ‘Rambo Rotten’ Tomatoes Page

There are far too many good movies in the cinema at the moment for you to choose this over any of them. That being said there is little of this movie that can’t be enjoyed and there is always a time and place for throat crushing violence.