"War is in your blood."

The action movie franchises of the 1980s - many of which we'd written off completely - have staged a comeback in the last few years. For better or worse, we've recently been treated to new entries in the "Die Hard" and "Rocky" series, with a fourth "Indiana Jones" ready to hit theaters this summer. What I find interesting about these aging characters is that they are aging. Rather than recasting the main characters with younger actors - a la James Bond - we get to see how the likes of John McClane have stood up to the ravages of time. The years have not been kind to our lost heroes but John J. Rambo remains the most dangerous action hero in cinema history. With the release of the new movie in the series - simply titled "Rambo" - a new generation will see why.

"Rambo" opens with a little background mixed with real footage of the conflict between the Burmese military and the Karen people, which very quickly and efficiently, sets the stage for the villains. When we're reintroduced to Rambo in the new movie, he's living in Thailand near the Burmese border working as a snake catcher. He's older and no longer the lean-and-mean killing machine, but still carries the muscle of someone with whom you'd rather not tangle. He's content to have left America and its wars behind and is resigned to live out his days in the only place he can feel safe: the dense jungle where his survival skills aren't seen as a danger but as a necessity.

A group of missionaries lead by Darla from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (Julie Benz) and Father Intintola from "The Sopranos" (Paul Schulze) approach Rambo to take them up the river to Burma where they can provide medical care for the Karen. Rambo initially rejects their offer, telling them frankly that nothing can be done for those people, but he eventually buckles because the hot blonde asks him nicely. The long and short of it is that the missionaries get into trouble in Burma and Rambo has to take a team of mercenaries up river for the rescue (but only after he crafts his own orc sword and enjoys a few hazy flashbacks from "First Blood" and "Rambo: First Blood part II.") The story is as simple as it gets, thankfully. I love a good story but I also love when movies know where their bread is buttered. For a Rambo movie it is not the story.

This picture really says it all.

What stands out the most about "Rambo" is not the action, acting or directing but the incredible unrelenting violence. After years of movies and video games, I've become desensitized to violence. There are very few movies anymore that can make me so much as flinch through sheer bloodletting but there are some scenes in "Rambo" that almost made me turn away. Not because it was sickening, but because of the context. Violence is more about the context than the actual tonnage of viscera. "The Passion of the Christ" and "Saving Private Ryan" have scenes that are difficult to watch because they are both incredibly violent and contextually cruel and inhumane. "Rambo" fits into this category of movies.

The beginning of the film is almost completely spent ensuring unequivocally that any empathy or remorse you could possibly have for the Burmese military is purged. By the time the missionaries are snatched, you're not so much afraid of what will happen to them as you are afraid that you'll have to watch it happen. "Rambo's" bloodshed is there to show that the villains are evil people and they deserve what is coming. Unfortunately for them, they have no idea what's coming because they don't have the luxury of Richard Crenna standing in their midst saying things like, "I didn't come to rescue Rambo from you. I came here to rescue you from him."

The violence of "Rambo" is not your typical fun action violence; it is horrifying real-world violence. Some of it goes far enough to make the movie less enjoyable to watch. That doesn't mean the movie is bad, it just means it isn't a lot of fun. It's the difference between watching an exciting boxing match and watching someone beat a baby seal to death with a hammer.

Not all the violence is perpetrated on the innocent. A great deal of it is saved up for the bad guys in both the edged and ballistic varieties. The bullet damage may be the most realistic in any film I've seen. I'm not a combat veteran and I've never seen anyone shot with a high-velocity .50 caliber bullet but I've read accounts. I imagine that it looks a lot like how the film portrays it; people being torn to pieces or reduced to little more than a chunky crimson splash.

So is John J. still "The Man" after all those years spent bagging snakes? Oh yes. He is indeed. Almost every one of Rambo's kills was met with cheering by the audience. It's not that they are elaborate or creative but more that the kills represent justice served to bullies through lethal and decisive action. Everyone loves to see a bully taken down and that's what this movie is all about at a very extreme level. There aren't any of those iconic moments like Rambo coming out of the wall of mud to grab that guy in the second film but there are a few shots that come close.

I think it's incredibly brave for Stallone - who also wrote and directed the film - to release a movie like "Rambo" that is both unbelievably violent and politically incorrect. I'm not one to play the race card ever but I could see people getting a little upset about this film. From a perspective of race, it's about a white guy destroying piles of evil Asian guys in order to save some white people. Rambo's been living more or less down the street from daily atrocity and genocide but the only thing that can spur him into action is the need to rescue a pretty white girl (who he all but delivered onto death's door). To be fair, this was the plot of a whole mess of action movies in the 1980s, but it's not something you see much of today. I commend both Stallone and Lionsgate for sticking to the story they wanted to tell.

Overall, I liked "Rambo." It's well made, has a lot of action and doesn't pull any punches. But it's not a film for everyone. There's some fantastic action there but the only thing that keeps you from falling into a deep depression while watching it is that you're secure in the knowledge that John Rambo will show up and right these wrongs. Whether you want to endure that much inhumanity in order to see well-deserved retribution is something only you can decide.

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