Review of First Blood (1982) by Alex H — 09 Oct 2014

Such a weird movie and such a good one. Part black comedy, part survival horror, part pastiche of a genre that was yet to be really established (the 80s action blockbuster), part action movie hero deconstruction.

Every major character in this is a man-child asshole, and none of them really knows why they're doing what they're doing. There is no moral center and that makes a lot of the action come across kinda sickly.

This isn't like Commando or Predator or any of those, with the burly white dude good guy mowing down scores of dehumanized brown people. Instead, it's a tragic hollowed man mowing down frightened local cops in the Pacific Northwest.

Way more interesting and dark than its franchise's reputation would let on, and Stallone is great. Dat thousand yard stare.