Review: Rambo: First Blood Part II

Imprisoned for blowing shit up in a small Oregon town in “First Blood”, this sequel has John Rambo (Sly Stallone) approached by old mentor Col. Trautman (Richard Crenna) with an irresistible proposition: Rescuing lost American POWs in Vietnam. Well, hold back there just a second. The mission is actually for Rambo to merely go there, take pictures and then it will be decided if the rescue mission is a go or not. Try telling that to Rambo, though. He has a bit of a problem forgetting that the War was a long time ago. Charles Napier is the suit in charge of the mission, Julia Nickson plays Rambo’s pretty Vietnamese guide, Martin Kove plays an American soldier and pilot, and Steven Berkoff turns up as a nasty commie Russian Lt. Colonel in cahoots with the equally nasty Vietnamese ‘coz…communism?

 

Nowhere near as interesting as its underrated predecessor, this 1985 sequel was directed by George P. Cosmatos (“The Cassandra Crossing” and “Tombstone”) and scripted by star Sly Stallone with a bit of help from James Cameron (director of “The Terminator”, “Aliens” and “True Lies”) and based on a story by Kevin Jarre (the screenwriter of “Glory” and “Tombstone”). It has a lot less to say than “First Blood”, it’s essentially Stallone replaying the Vietnam War singlehandedly and all the bureaucratic nonsense back home. This results in Rambo pretty much winning the war for the USA (‘Do we get to win this time?’ he asks early on), and getting revenge on the a-holes on the American side who were happy to send people to their death. It’s a pretty well-made film, just a film that really only right-wingers will enjoy.

 

The scenes of Rambo stalking his prey are, as last time, the undeniably cool highlight, even if it feels like Rambo has murdered the fuck out of an entire country in this one. He uses a bow and fucking arrow at one point, how can you not love that to some extent? The final fifteen minutes of non-stop action are ricockulous (67 kills in the film in total, as opposed to the one confirmed kill in “First Blood”. Yep.) and definitely memorable, one way or the other. It’s the message behind the action I take issue with. It just isn’t terribly appealing to me, nor in step with my own political persuasion. The first film was excellent, the sequels are all viscerally appealing, but thematically unhelpful.

 

On the plus side here we have one of the best music scores Jerry Goldsmith (“The Omen”, “First Blood”, “Star Trek: First Contact”) ever composed, and one that 80s gamers will recall instantly. Like the title character, it’s iconic. Cinematographer Jack Cardiff (“Black Narcissus”, “The Vikings”) also does an excellent job, aided by some awesome scenery. Cosmatos and Cardiff also seem to share a hard-on for Stallone’s muscles. Not a complaint, just an observation. I’ve seen professional wrestlers with less suspicious physiques than Stallone’s in this one. The film also possibly contains more beads of sweat than any non-porn film in history.

 

Rambo is still an interesting character in this one. He only trusts Trautman, clearly hates pencil-pushing bureaucrats and is still psychologically scarred by the war. However, the difference between this film and the previous one is that this one seems less interested in Rambo the soldier and more interested in Rambo the American icon of military arse-kicking might and awesomeness. In some ways, that’s a reversal of who the character was last time as now Rambo is attempting to restore America’s pride. Last time out, he was a guy who got pushed around too much and had to retaliate. It seems like a reboot, though you can certainly see his motivation for wanting to engage: He’s still scarred by Vietnam, why wouldn’t he want the chance to try and ‘make right’? So the plot works, it’s just not my kind of thing and a tad generic (By the way, Cameron claims he only wrote the ‘action’ and Sly wrote the ‘politics’. I’m not remotely sceptical of that, knowing Stallone’s political leanings, especially in the 80s). Stallone’s performance was better in “First Blood”, but his minimalist turn here is actually a bit underrated as well. If there’s any subtlety here (or anything remotely approaching subtlety), it’s from Stallone the actor, not Stallone the screenwriter. Singapore-born Julia Nickson, however, is howlingly bad. Despite her Asian origins, her pidgin-English performance here is woefully unconvincing and incredibly silly. Better are the unscrupulous trio of Charles Napier, Steven Berkoff, and Martin Kove. Kove doesn’t really play a bad guy as such here, he pretty much has the standard John C. McGinley role of the guy set to be punched really hard in the face at the end by the hero. Kove plays it well, though he probably could’ve played Rambo too, if you ask me. Napier was one of the great unsung character actors of the 80s and 90s, and makes for a terrific heartless bastard who would sell anyone out if need be. Berkoff…is Berkoff as a Russian Lt. Colonel with a German accent. Yep. Berkoff is good as usual, but the role is Reagan-era stupidity aimed at the anti-Russkie yahoos. Sure, this is Berkoff’s only act (he’s the same in everything), but he does it well and like Napier and the returning Richard Crenna, he’s better than the film deserves.

 

If you like your Reagan-era right-wing American action flicks, this one and “Uncommon Valour” are probably the best of the lot, whatever that is worth to you. For me, it’s not my kind of politics, but at least this one’s a damn sight better than John Wayne’s “The Green Berets”. It’s probably more corny than offensive, really and on a technical level it’s pretty well-made. It has a lot less to say than the first one, but it is a sequel after all. Absolutely hideous end credits song ‘Peace in Our Life’ by the one and only Frank Stallone. It ain’t no ‘Far From Over’ that’s for damn sure.

 

Rating: C+