THE EXPENDABLES Review

If you have any interest in seeing 'The Expendables' then you get exactly what you expect it to be. Stallone's orgy of action heroes is a throwback to his glory days. Plain and simple. This is an action film that is so bombastic, violent and over-the-top it is impossible to take anything seriously. Good thing this tone is completely intentional. Usually it is a bad sign when a movie is less about substance and more about explosions, but lets be honest-the whole point, the entire reason for this film even existing is to witness some of todays and yesterdays action stars kick some serious butt. And so, that is what consumes most of the films running time. There is cheesy dialogue, bad camera movements and awkward shots galore, but in essence we believe Stallone captures his tone perfectly and allows these elements to work for him instead of against him. The stereotypes of action films are played up for chuckles instead of trying to make them serious. The plot is standard guns for hire bad boys so we know how everything is going to go down, but we love watching these guys get into it. Stallone is still kickin it in the lead role and looks amazing really for 65, no matter how disfigured his lips sometime look. Statham is the real anchor here though, he is the most likeable and its almost as if Stallone knows he is the true heir to the action throne and is sometimes mentoring him while other times giving him a right of passage to command the throne. Every supporting cast member gets their moment, though Jet Li doesn't get enough and old timers Rourke and Lundgren have some of the better bits, but Mickey nearly steals the film in one of the only sincere and moving sections of the film. Eric Roberts of course plays the bad guy and the much hyped scene that contains the three biggest action stars ever isn't as impactful as it maybe should have been, but it happened so lets be happy. 'The Expendables' is honestly nothing but a fun time and I imagine that is all Stallone wanted his audience to have. Good for him, can't wait for the sequel, maybe Van Damme will show up next time.