These art-house films start to get old after a while: "Rambo: First Blood Part II"

Oh yeah ... when I saw this would be on one of my umpteen movie channels -- gone next week, sadly -- there was no question I needed to see it again. What's it been ... 15 years? 20? Let's check this out and have a good laugh.

But you know what? While this is Exhibit A for gratuitous patriotic violence, it actually isn't that bad. Really.

True, there's a lot of bang-bang for the sake of bang-bang. Worse, there's some excrutiating dialogue. To wit:

"Sir, do we get to win this time?"

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"
"A stinkin' bureaucrat who's tryin to cover his ass!"

"What is it you want?"
"I want ... what they want ... and every other guy who came over here and spilled his guts and gave everything he had wants! For our country to love us as much as we love it! That's what I want!"
"How will you live, John?
"Day by day."

Yeah, David Mamet or Aaron Sorkin, this ain't. But what "Rambo" -- the original "First Blood" sequel, not whatever came out earlier this year -- does offer is nice, tight action that is sure as hell more fun to watch than "Missing in Action," the Chuck Norris entry in the "Vietnam isn't over" wave of movies that came out in the mid-1980s.

Our story is simple: John J. Rambo (Tom Hanks ... OK, OK ... Sylvester Stallone) is in a prison camp after wreaking havoc on a sheriff's department in "First Blood" but gets the chance to go back to 'Nam and check out a prison camp there. Turns out the mission is a sham, but Rambo finds some POWs anyway and takes it upon himself to bring them back. Helping him is a cute Vietnamese woman. Hindering him are two quintessential character actors: Charles Napier ("You're gonna look pretty funny tryin' to eat corn on the cob with no f*ckin' teeth!") and Martin Kove ("Sweep the leg").

Our director is George P. Cosmatos -- not to be confused with George A. Cosmatos, I guess. This guy also directed "Tombstone" (not bad) and "Cobra," which is bad but also something I simply cannot turn away from, especially the first several minutes. (Admit it: Stallone gets off some great lines.) GPC knows how to keep the action moving, and the 97-minute running time certainly doesn't hurt.

Push comes to shove, sure, I'll admit "Rambo" is hopelessly hokey between the rampaging Stallone and the overall "We've got to get our men back!" message. We achieve overkill when Rambo's hot lady friend asks him to take her with him back to America. Gee, something tells me that you might not make that flight, missy. And now Rambo is really p!ssed. Because before, you know, he was willing to talk things out.

That said, I actually enjoyed this movie after all these years. I mean, I knew what I was in for, and yet was treated to a brisk, lively tale, unencumbered by such concerns as character development and common sense. So take that, "Syriana."