Rambo Review

Rambo is unapologetically a man's movie. At one point, Rambo singlehandedly destroys an army. How do you top that?
Stallone is back as John Rambo, the haunted vietnam vet. He is living just south of Burma, selling snakes to make a living. When some missionaries want to go into the warzone that is Burma, he reluctantly takes them. When their mission goes awry, he leads a band of mercenaries to rescue them. The plot is that simple.
Stallone does a great job of acting; Rambo is clearly weary of the world. He is waiting to die. When he finally has something to live for, it's a sight to behold.
The film is outright brutal - from its cringe inducing first scene. People are killed onscreen in crazy ways, and Rambo just ups the violence to ultra realistic levels.
So what do I think? I think Rambo is an interesting movie. It shows the horror that is war as realistically as Saving Private Ryan did. Unfortunately, the other theme that comes across is the futility of hope. It is implied that hope could never save Burma - only a man willing to kill hundreds of people in a bloodbath could stop killing. And that's the problem - killing leads to more killing, which in turn leads to more. If Rambo didn't have a missionary killing someone in the end to save himself, I could have recommended it as a man's movie. Now it's a man's movie that tries to show a worldview that only ends in death.