Rambo
18, nationwide
Is nothing sacred? Rambo, the patron saint of the American conservative movement, has become a liberal. When we last encountered this Reagan-era action hero, he was helping the mujahedin kick the Russians out of Afghanistan — and before that, in Rambo: First Blood Part II, he was rescuing forgotten American POWs from a Vietnamese labour camp. This time round, in an instalment written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, he’s fighting the military junta in Burma. What’s next? Will Rambo join forces with Hugo Chávez to protect Venezuela from the forces of American imperialism?
When Rambo opens, we find our eponymous hero living quietly on the Thai–Burmese border, earning a living as a harpoon fisherman and snake wrangler. In a few short scenes, we’re given to understand that 20 years of this peaceful, sedentary life have left him an embittered cynic, the Humphrey Bogart of South-East Asia.
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