Toxic Masculinity Tuesday: ‘Rambo: First Blood Part II’ (1985)

If First Blood was about a wounded man pushed too far, Rambo: First Blood Part II is about what happens when Hollywood looks at that box office, then turns that wound into a weapon. This is the purest version of Vietnam veteran John Rambo, one that strips away hesitation and any nuance, and straps a machine gun on him in a glorious tale of masculine redemption. Sylvester Stallone didn’t just play Rambo, he helped define him, and when Rambo: First Blood Part II hit in 1985, Stallone had turned the Army special forces vet into one of the era’s defining action figures, and he plays him here with the kind of physical certainty that makes the whole movie work. The film was the first to be mostly written by Sylvester Stallone, although he had the help of none other than James Cameron. It’s also the most popular of the Rambo films and, over time, has spawned an array of imitators, parodies and cliches. Stallone’s Rambo isn’t chatty, sentimental, or interested in proving anything, which is exactly why Stallone’s performance was perfect. He embodied the character as a tightly wound character of masculine frustration, restraint, and violence that had been waiting for release. The Mission The...