1/25/08: Cloverfield/Rambo (2008)Yes, we know you’ve probably already seen
Cloverfield. That doesn’t mean we can ignore the most conservative double-feature of the century. There have been
others, of course, but this one’s really the antidote to Tommy Lee Jones getting an Oscar nomination for
In The Valley of Elah.
There's plenty of deep insight in
our proper Cloverfield review. For here, though, we'll just rehash the politics behind this monster rampaging through New York City (and last week’s box-office returns). There’s certainly nothing subtle about
Cloverfield’s 9/11 imagery. The comparison starts with the destruction of a national monument. Then we get another collapsing landmark sending down clouds of dust and forcing people to take refuge in a convenience store. It’s exactly like what the nation witnessed from real amateur video and security cameras on that miserable day.
The lesson’s slightly more discreet. There’s a threat to Manhattan that’s finally manifesting, but seems to be thousands of years old. We’ll later see—if you watch closely—that our yuppie protagonists could’ve been prepared for the threat, but were too distracted by their own self-absorption. Meanwhile, the destruction’s chronicled by a likeable lunkhead of an amateur videographer, who ends up deciding that this monster must’ve been created by the U.S. government.
Sadly, the metaphor doesn’t hold up when the military arrives. Our own forces couldn’t mobilize so quickly—but it’s nice to imagine that Manhattan is full of soldiers ready to haul out the heavy ammo.
Rambo is actually more of a right-wing surprise. As discussed
here, the cartoon Rambo of the ’80s outdid the big-screen version as a conservative role model. That all changes with the Rambo that is
Rambo. Sylvester Stallone has written and directed a bashing bloodfest of Burmese bastards that celebrates the necessity of military (or military-style) intervention. They could’ve packaged this one as
Hotel Rwanda II.
In interviews, Stallone has also made a strong case for avoiding Islamofascists as the film’s villains. It really would be kind of creepy to have Rambo saving the day on that front, since we should be celebrating the real American heroes who routinely put their lives on the line.
As entertainment,
Rambo still puts out a message—and addresses a topic—more important than any film that’s starred George Clooney. The critics will be displeased. They’ll mostly complain that
Rambo is mindless violence, but that’s because the message makes them uncomfortable. In fact, the violence is brilliant and daring. The real tragedy of all this is that
Cloverfield and
Rambo didn’t get paired as a three-hour
Grindhouse-styled extravaganza. Maybe there’s a drive-in somewhere that’s got these two showing on different screens. We’d travel to Memphis for that.
Make it your own: Rambo and
Cloverfield are in theaters now—which was the entire point of this entry. Maybe we should occasionally shake up the formatting around here.
