Movie Review - Rambo ( 2008)


In this latest Rambo installment, John Rambo has retreated to a simple life in a rural Thai village near the Burmese border, capturing snakes for local entertainers, and transporting roamers in his battered long-tail boat. After capturing a cobra, Rambo is approached by a man who asks him to take himself and his group of fellow missionaries to Burma to help the Karen tribe members,who are regularly raped,tortured and massacred by Major Tint's sadistic soldiers; with food and medicine. Rambo flatly refuses. Then, the woman in the group Sarah Miller asks him. Once more Rambo refuses telling her, She can't change anything and to go home. She leaves him only to return later that night alone. She asks Rambo once more, telling him that she's trying to make a difference, that's all she wants. Rambo reluctantly agrees and takes her and her group onto the river the next day. Rambo is taken with Sarahs determination and is only ferrying them because of it. He will only do as Sarah directs. He hasn't much compassion or likeness for the others in the group. While the missionaries are talking, Sarah talks to Rambo about his past. He tells her his name, John, and that he's from Arizona and about how he arrived in the orient. She asks him if he's ever thought of going back or if he had family,"A dad I guess," was his response before expressing he would not like to return. While traveling towards Burma, the group is approached by Burmese Pirates who after seeing Sarah, demand her. Rambo attempts to bargain with them to ascertain her freedom but seems to be failing. The Burmese man then points a gun at Sarah ordering her to him and Rambo kills him and the other armed pirates leaving the group shaken and afraid. One of the missionaries, Michael, scolds him telling him that,"No life should be taken for any reason." Rambo assaults him explaining that he did what he had to to save Sarah. Micahel and the other missionaries want to leave, but Sarah pleads with them to continue, Rambo heeds her. Rambo finally drops the group off at the riverside of the village and is informed by Michael that he will be reported for the murders he committed. Sarah stays behind much to Michaels dismay and gives Rambo her cross necklace and thanks him. Michael explains that they will be leaving by road and Rambo is no longer necessary. He then goes and burns the boat filled with dead pirates. The humanitarian mission is going well, until the village is attacked killing one of the missionaries and most of the villagers. Sarah and the remaining mercenaries are kidnapped by the burmese army. Rambo is then dreaming of the past years and is awoken by his name being called. The pastor from the missionaries church is there and asks Rambo if he can help him find the missing missionaries who should have been home 10 days ago. He continues to say that all he needs is Rambo to lead them to the spot where he left them and that his "hired help" ((assorted mercenaries)) would do the rest. Rambo wastes no time and goes back up river with the mercenaries in tow. The mercenaries are unaware of Rambos killing prowess and don't take him as anything more than,"Boat man." During the boat ride, one of the mercenaries introduces himself as "School Boy." After reaching the same point where he dropped off the Christian aid workers the mercenaries tell him to stay behind,that,"Boat man should stay with the boat." He refuses. The mercenaries come about to the Karen village that the missionaries were and find it completely obliterated. They are joined by a Karen rebel who will knows the location of the missing missionaries. They start to look for any sign of them when they see and army jeep approach. The mercenaries hide and watch as the Armymen begin to run the captured to their deaths by means of mine, leaving the mercenaries to do nothing but watch. One of the mines goes off killing a couple of prisoners and the rest run to the safety of the paddy wall where they are about to be shot. Before they are killed, Rambo starts to annihilate the army men quickly with bow & arrow. The mercenaries then help and after some Rambo Style persuasion agree to go after the missionaries. They travel into the forest and stumble upon an old WWII tall-boy bomb which never detonated. The group of mercenaries now joined with Rambo travel to the POW camp where the Christian aid workers are being held and stage a stealthy assault on the camp. They sychronize watches and agree that after a certain time they will leave, no matter who's not there. School boy had already sucessfully infiltrated the camp and succeeds in killing the watch tower guards. Rambo locates the missing missionaries and frees them telling them to stay put. He then sends a mercenary for them who rescues them and takes them to the the safety point. In the meantime, the rest of the soldiers are being entertained by 3 burmese women forced to dance for their pleasure. The men eventually begin to rape them. The Karen rebel saves a woman from a cage and proceeds to the safe place where the rest of the mercenaries decide to leave without Rambo and Sarah. Rambo looks for Sarah and finds her about to be raped by a man Rambo kills with his bare hands. They begin to flee, but are spotted by a guard who points his gun at a fallen Sarah. Rambo jumps ontop of her only to see the army man get killed by School boy who returned to help them. They make haste for the river which is very far from them. It's not long before their work is noticed. The army follows them with boats on the river, and several hum-vees filled with scent dogs and soldiers. The mercenary/missionary group continue into the woods only to suffer a near casualty when a mine goes off. Michael helps the mercenary hit and they proceed to the river in hopes of finding the boat. Rambo realizes they are being followed and takes some of Sarahs clothing to wear on himself and takes School boys claymore explosive and tells them to run towards the river after firing a shot to lead the men in that direction. Rambo then takes off towards the woods and is persued by the army men and the dogs. School boy and Sarah arrive at the rivers edge where they oversee the other missionaries and the mercenaries being beaten by the army men who caught them. Rambo is seen constructing a trip-wire type rig with the claymore and the Tall boy wrapping Sarahs piece of shirt around it and then starts to run away quickly towards the river. The army men are in pursuit and eventually come across the explosives setting it off and blowing themselves and the surrounding area away. Rambo himself is caught up with the by the aftermath. The explosion is seen from the mercenary site and they are setting up to kill the men. Sarah pleads with School-boy to do something, but an army man in a tree-stand high powered machine gun apparatus is nearby leaving him with no choice but to stay still and not interfere. Finally, the mercenary/missionary group are put into position to be killed and Rambo arrives to kill the man in the machine-gun apparatus and proceed to kill the army-men. The mercenaries then begin to join him. Major Tint arrives at the battle via boat setting a mercenary and Rambos boat on fire with large flame throwers. Rambo shoots the boat causing it to explode. The blood-bath ensues and Michael kills an army man with a rock to his head several times. The Karen Rebel brings more Karen rebels who all continue to fight. Another mercenary is killed and Rambo then continues to kill the burmese finally defeating them. Rambo sees a high ranking burmese Army man stumble up a hill unwittingly to where Rambo was. Rambo eagerly disembowels him. Sarah and Michael are reunited and after a thankful wave to a vailant Rambo, go home. The movie fades to a small road and Rambo walking down it. He arrives at a mailbox labeled ,'R.Rambo,' and looks down the driveway to a quaint farmhouse. He looks behind him to the road, then proceeds to the farm.


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