First Blood: Part 2 (1985)

Written by James Cameron and Sylvester Stallone Directed by George P. Cosmatos Well, sequels are always a tricky thing. In 1985, however, they weren't the common fare that they are today. Hell, Rambo basically helped set the structure of the modern action movie, so when you're making a sequel, who are you going to call? James Cameron came forward on this project and wrote a taut, action-based story that logically continues the exploits of John J Rambo (Stallone). After the first film, Rambo is in a quarry-based prison where he spends his long days breaking rocks. It isn't until Col. Trautman (Richard Crenna) comes calling that Rambo's life will change and he'll go back to the killing fields. Col. Trautman offers Rambo a way out of the prison, if he's willing to work for it. The military has identified a spot where some American soldiers might possibly still be POW's, and since this is 10 years after the war, they've been there the whole time. A true Green Beret, Rambo doesn't want to see anyone left behind in the mess he was able to escape from. He agrees to take the mission, and they fly to the operations headquarters for the mission, where Rambo is introduced to Marshall Murdock (Charles Napier), the leader of this operation to recover the missing soldiers, who has called Rambo in because of his expertise in jungle ops. They have a very advanced military outpost set up, and it's Rambo's mission to find the men and take pictures to confirm their whereabouts. Once he's done that, he's supposed to leave and let the military take care of extraction. If you know Rambo, however, you know that's not going to be the case. Once he's in the country, he meets up with a Vietnamese freedom fighter named Co Bao (Julia Nickson-Soul) and they head to the camp where the prisoners are being held. Upon arrival Rambo won't just leave, he has to take the men out by himself. So he grabs his bow and arrow and makes his move. The first act of the movie deals with him getting his mission and heading into the jungle. The second act is mostly the action that carries the story. Rambo learns he's up against Captain Vihn (George Cheung), who is in turn working for a secret Russian military group, for reasons that are yet to be known. Rambo is thrust into the middle of all of this, where he has to save the prisoners while he can, get Co Bao to safety, and return to the military base. When everything goes bad Rambo reverts to his animal instincts and becomes part of the jungle that leaps out and grabs the people that walk through it. Like the first movie, much of the second act is all about how Rambo can survive in the jungle, and here he's given even more room to work, and it seems like this is the part of the film that James Cameron punched up. There are so many ridiculous (but still totally bad ass) deaths in this movie after a while it gets hard to count. Once Bo Cao is dead, there is nothing left to tie Rambo to his sanity. Once he thinks he's completed the mission and once again learns he's been screwed, Rambo does basically the same thing he did in the first movie. Go wild, mumble incoherently, and shoot inanimate objects with a large caliber machine gun. What makes this film a joy to watch is they threw out about 95% of the message that was involved in the first film. I mean, it still has something to say about war, veterans, prisoners, and the types of lives that are led after someone has committed his body and mind fully to killing. This is an interesting theme, if under explored. What this film is really about is the action, the serious tone that came with the first movie was derived from the book, since this has no basis other than the first movie, it is free to run wild. There are some good performances in this film, which was a surprise to me. No, the acting isn't good, it never is, but either way Napier, Crenna, and Stallone manage to surprise and entertain throughout the whole movie. Anyone watching a second Rambo movie shouldn't expect any more than that. The location shooting is probably what stands out most about this movie. The locations are fantastic, from the rice paddies, to the river, and of course back into the jungle. The environment becomes much more a part of the story than in the first one, and Rambo becomes part of it. For its time, this movie is actually quite original, it's a big-action sequel to a big-action movie, the likes of which wouldn't bee seen again until Die Hard 2 and Terminator 2. Again, this whole series is a trend-setter. While it may not be the best movie you ever see, it certainly can climb to be one of the most enjoyable if you watch it with the right eyes. 7.7/10