The date changed but the action remains the same

John "Body Count" Rambo is back with a vengeance. Though tucked away in a small village south of Burma, John is still into hard-core body building, communicating in simple sentences and exploding into a rage in the blink of an eye.

And he's still keeping the plot simple: It's 1979 -- er, 2008, and Rambo is haunted daily by his Vietnam experience. He survives, though, by pushing his strong will forward and making a living by catching cobras, doing a little blacksmithing and toting cargo up and down the river in his boat.

One day a small group of missionaries comes to the village looking for a ride up river into war-torn Burma. They've brought medicine and Bibles and will do whatever it takes to get north. John tells them no and to go home, but they are a persistent bunch. He even tells them that if they aren't bringing in guns, they aren't going to change anything.

But later that night, standing like a helpless child in the rain, the pretty blond girl of the bunch touches his soft side. He'll do it for her.

Well, this is a "Rambo" movie, don't you know. Not long after he drops the group off they are kidnapped by the bad guys and imprisoned. Rambo and a hired group of rough-around-the-edges-but-good-soul mercenaries take off on a mission to rescue the innocents.

Start the body count. My guess? With military and peasants, I say 167.

Sylvester Stallone wrote, directed and produced the film, and he has kept it focused and simple -- I don't recall more than four locations. His characters are either pure evil, pure innocent or purely protectors of the innocent.

As reviewer I feel I should have something deeper, or at least more interesting to say -- but I don't. The "Rambo" franchise is a "shoot 'em up." And John Rambo doesn't disappoint.