Flats is writing again after a momentary hiatus.
State of America Part 6: Rambo
Sylvester Stallone is The Man. He is the master of the Tough Guy, he is the battle worn, beaten down dog of our day. He takes his knocks and comes back swinging. ‘Stallone, a 60-year-old Rambo? You can’t do that…’ we all say. ‘No?’ he asks, his voice guttural, pissed, seething in an internal anger and obvious genius that immediately makes you reconsider. ‘Watch me.’
And then he does exactly what everyone told him was impossible.
Most recently was his successful ROCKY BALBOA. That will be his legacy, a thing that apparently takes decades to decide if it is great or not, according to our diminished President. Stallone is Rocky. His fight is one of the arts, coming back with one more story that’s relevant, taking this character we’ve fought beside for the past 30 years and finding his heart one more time. The standing ovation of the crowd at the end was not one for Rocky, but for Stallone. ‘We still love you, Stallone,’ we were all saying. ‘Keep showing us the good fight.’
RAMBO will not receive that same wild ovation, yet last night the entire theater of motley gore freaks and yuppie killers did clap as the credits rolled. Rambo never made anyone’s mom tear up, never had the Eye of the Tiger training montage, never the fire in your soul ‘Get up, you sonafabitch, cause Mickey loves ya.’ Rambo is a maniac killer in South East Asia intent on killing every fucking thing in his path, once he snaps. Yes, at his core he is a good man, but he’s doing very, very bad things. And he does those bad things a lot, which distances entire demographics.
But Stallone cherishes this rogue character, and churns one last tale of him out, hailing all of his strengths and virtues, and relishing the destruction he creates. RAMBO is a great pornography of violence flick. The plentitude of shots with severing limbs and cantaloupe sized bullet holes is unparalleled. The story is created to support America’s lust of violence, but does shed light on the catastrophe that is Burma’s gruesome Civil War. Take a 60-year-old Vietnam Vet and have him do one last bout of good for the soldier within him. Put him in Burma where dictatorships kill peacefully protesting monks, and wait for a pretty blond to get abducted as she tries to bring medicine into impoverished villages. Send in a rescue crew of mercenaries and have Rambo witness Rice Patty Roulette, then watch what he can do with a bow and arrow, his own hands, a machete, a defunct WWII English airplane bomb, and a truck mounted machine gun. Yes, Rambo is unstoppable, and the killing is a’plenty. The tormented John Rambo may not stir our hearts as Rocky has, but he kills with such brutality and efficiency that this final installment should not be missed. And hell, it’s another round of Stallone showing us Human Will vs. The Impossible. Chalk another one up for ol’ Sly. He is a force of nature in his own right.
