Review of Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) by Juan F — 22 Aug 2008

So long, psychology: in First Blood II, Rambo dumps his emotional baggage so he can take on The Enemy - actual bad guys, for definite this time - and then kill the living Hell out of them. There's some duplicity amongst the good guys, namely Charles Napier's slippery mission controller who doesn't want Rambo to bring back any POWs for political reasons. But make no mistake, this is the frustrated and tormented hero of First Blood finally getting his rocks off - and with him, disenfranchised post-Vietnam American audiences. This is closure, in the form of bullets, knives and exploding arrows. And there's a huge body-count at the end of it, including a couple of people you were sure got killed earlier on, but apparently didn't. Rambo asks at the start if he's allowed to win this time, referring partly to The War, but also to the first film. And by God, he's going to.

It's all been heavily parodied (most noticeably in Hot Shots!: Part Deux), and rightly so, since by the end Rambo's massive killing spree just gets downright surreal. But it's still enjoyable enough schlocky action fare, even when Rambo waves the flag with his now typical end-of-film message on unappreciated Vietnam vets. But once again, a tacky song comes with the credits, which couldn't be more at odds with the film.

James Cameron co-wrote the film, but it's hard to tell with the almost monosyllabic hero once again leaving most of the talking to everyone else. Stallone, incidentally, is required to do lots of killtastic stunts, but none of the vulnerability that made him interesting in the first film. As for other characters, Rambo has a Vietnamese pseudo-love interest who speaks such good broken English that she's totally unbelievable. And General Trautman once again hovers awkwardly in the background waiting for something to do, and telling people about Rambo to make up for it.

There's some awkward Coca Cola product placement, and the full-on machismo of Rambo singlehandedly murdering entire armies is more than a little silly. But again, this works as a one-man-army action movie, that sadly but honestly has - unlike its predecessor - no intention of being anything else.