DOUBLE FEATURE OF DEATH: Rambo and Battle Royale

RAMBO
Apparently, John Rambo was right: Nothing is over. As the world exerted a collective snigger after Sylvester Stallone announced there would be a new “Rambo” film — the fourth of the franchise — coming on the heels of the final “Rocky” installment, I joined in.

As much as I loved the overall scope of “First Blood” and the ridiculous 80s excess of “Rambo: First Blood, Part II,” I had little to no confidence that a new story involving the most pissed-off Vietnam vet in history would fly. In fact, I expected the worst. Then I watched it. It was one of the biggest surprises I’ve encountered in my film-watching career. Not only is it action-packed, it’s just plain-old good.

Let’s get this straight: No one in their right mind can enter the theater thinking they are going to come out a more intelligent or well-rounded person because they took in a Rambo flick. Not happening. But Stallone’s effort (he also directed and co-wrote) is exactly what it needs to be: an action film for guys; no cutesy romance, no 45-minute-long buildup. What it brings is the meat-and-potatoes of violent action. Heads are blown off. Limbs are removed. Guts are ripped open with impunity. Bad guys are total dicks. Good guys are sort of dicks but have good one-liners. Explosions abound. In fact, the sheer gore of the final Rambo tale is a touch startling, even for 2008.

Having fought an unwinnable social battle on his own soil, getting one back for the U.S. in Vietnam, and scaring the life out of evil regimes in Afghanistan, a visibly older, botoxed, bloated John J. Rambo is plying his trade as a snakes-for-cash vigilante in Thailand. When a group of do-gooders ask him to ferry them into war-torn Myanmar, Rambo eventually gives in and the adventure begins.

Stallone is at the very least apprised of the real situation in the former Burma. There is a lot of bad stuff going down with the Junta government, and the violent atrocities are piling up. The film takes place in a relevant area for our times, and perhaps that’s what makes the story seem so urgent and apropos to our current world. What sets “Rambo” apart from the countless other blood-and-guts shoot-em’ ups is Stallone’s deft hand at knowing what the public wants in a movie. This is the guy who owned the 80s with his two franchises, raking in close to a billion dollars in profits. He understands how to keep an action flick moving along. By the time the shooting stops and the smoke clears, Sly finds himself in a good place. And now, maybe, John J. Rambo can relax in retirement. Maybe.

4/5

BATTLE ROYALE
Cult classics are among the first movies I typically flock to. They’re the word-of-mouth, under-the-radar secrets that often offer a rewarding experience. Sort of like Frank’s Red Hot, that hole-in-the-wall ramen shop or HBO’s “The Wire.” Partially because of bizarre distribution in the U.S., I was not able to see “Battle Royale” for years — sometimes I plain forgot about it, more often I couldn’t find a decent rental copy. But the movie is a definitive cult classic, having recently been revisited by The A.V. Club’s excellent “The New Cult Canon” series (for a more introspective Battle Royale feature, check out: http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/the_new_cult_canon_battle ).

Why? First, because the story is deliciously evil: Japanese middle school kids are forced to kill one another on a deserted island until one remains. Everyone gets a weapon and some equipment, and then it’s off to the jungle to fight, hide or attempt to escape. The main
protagonists, Shuya and Noriko, try their best to stay together and not participate in the carnage. Other students openly embellish a chance to snuff out classmates. And still another “transfer student” is a sheer psychopath, playing second fiddle in raw evil only to saucy class slut Chiaki Kuriyama, a black widow if ever there was one. What ties the movie together is the teacher (Takeshi Kitano) who is pulling the strings in a very calculating, mild manner. [Note: I work at a middle school, and I can picture a few of the teachers there playing the same role with aplomb.] “Battle Royale” soars because of its social impact: Not surprisingly, a few students off themselves right off the bat rather than fight; bullying can be seen here and there; cliques exist, even on the battlefield; the rift between adults and kids is far and wide. A few minor gaffes aside, this movie still holds its own as both an amusing watch and a closer inspection of Japan’s culture of youth.

4/5

Note: Rambo is currently showing in theaters here in Japan

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