Those of us who were watching movies in the ‘80s are no doubt familiar with the iconic character Rambo, a disaffected Vietnam veteran who just can’t fit back into society when he returns from overseas. Over the course of three films, Rambo was established as a sort of reluctant anti-hero—a warrior in conflict with himself, but when push comes to shove, finding himself compelled to take action for a cause. Now, twenty years after the last installment, John Rambo returns to the big screen in Rambo.

As the film opens we learn that this time the action is going to focus on the ongoing conflict in Burma, or Myanmar as it’s now called by the ruling regime. Rambo has made a life for himself in Thailand, living on board a river boat and capturing deadly snakes for a village that caters to tourists.

He’s approached by a group of Christian aide workers from the U.S.A. that wants to cross the border, taking in medicine and other supplies. At first he tries to talk them out of going due to the danger, but he is finally convinced they should be allowed to risk their lives for their beliefs and reluctantly agrees to take them upriver.

After successfully dropping the team off, Rambo returns to Thailand and resumes his normal life. Some time goes by and he’s again contacted by someone from the U.S.A. This time, it’s the pastor of the church that sent out the aide workers. They didn’t return on schedule and haven’t been heard from. Word from rebels operating in Burma suggests that they’ve been captured by an army unit known for oppressive operations against villages in the area. The pastor wants Rambo to take a team of mercenaries back upriver to find and rescue his people. Once again, Rambo the warrior saddles up and heads into combat.

The new Rambo movie is a complete Sylvester Stallone show. Besides starring, he also wrote the screenplay, directed, and co-produced. The amazing thing is that he tackled this challenging role in his early sixties. It’s hard to tell onscreen; he looks incredibly fit, though obviously it’s not all natural. Joining Stallone is a cast of mostly little-known actors, though moviegoers will probably recognize Julie Benz from her role on Showtime’s Dexter. She plays one of the Christian aide workers who is instrumental in convincing Rambo to take them to Burma in the first place. The rest of the players turn in adequate performances, but take a back seat to Rambo.

As far as the action goes, well, it’s a Rambo movie. What more do you really need to know? The template has been well established by the three previous movies. On tap is monosyllabic dialogue, a big knife, and a heavy machine gun. Rambo will never be considered art. The story is simply a vehicle to unleash the violence. And violence there is, more so than I remember from any previous Rambo movie. It’s over the top in this new installment. You’ll see bodies vaporized by mines and mortars, limbs severed by heavy machine gun rounds, and several decapitations and eviscerations courtesy of that big knife. At times the intensity is enough to make the most hardened action movie fan cringe.

Will you enjoy it? That’s a tough call. If you liked the earlier Rambo movies you might like this one; but the overall brutality of the action makes it a crap shoot. For me personally, while I like a mindless action movie as much as the next guy, the violence here was really almost too gratuitous.

Rambo is rated R for “strong graphic bloody violence, sexual assaults, grisly images and language.” The rating here is a little surprising. I would have expected this movie to net an NC-17 for the violence alone. I can’t emphasize enough that this is one of the most violent films I think I’ve ever watched.

Courtesy of a local publicist, Michael attended a promotional screening of Rambo.