First Trailer for TERMINATOR: DARK FATE Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Terminator franchise may be one of the most nonsensical franchises in film history given they’ve gone back (in) time and time again to try and make a successful sequel to the first two films that have always been regarded as some of the best action filmmaking of all time. People seem to be making a big deal out of Terminator: Dark Fate in that this latest attempt to capitalize on the IP that is Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s bread and butter by saying James Cameron is finally returning to the franchise, but I seem to clearly remember Cameron endorsing Terminator: Genisys four years ago. In regards to that exaggerated attempt at redirecting the franchise altogether I actually enjoyed it more than most. I know we had Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines which isn’t as bad as people say as well as Terminator: Salvation which is as bad as people, and then there’s Genisys which just seemed doomed from the get-go. With Dark Fate, Cameron brought on Deadpool director Tim Miller to try and finally make the definitive sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day by pulling the same stunt as last year’s Halloween and wiping clean the slate of everything that came after that second film. All of this taken into consideration it seems there is no real reason to have any hope or optimism for this latest re-boot, but the presence of Linda Hamilton does count for a lot. Hamilton, who hasn't been involved in a Terminator property since Judgment Day, is back as Sarah Connor in what more or less looks like a re-hash of the first film with a little bit of action and certain character designs from the second film thrown in for good measure. That said, one has to imagine Hamilton liked something about the script as she’s obviously turned down pretty good pay days before when the screenplay clearly wasn’t up to par. And while some of this looks to be treading familiar ground for the sake of satisfying the core fan base I have enough faith in Miller and the writing team that includes Charles Eglee (who created the Cameron-produced TV series Dark Angel), Josh Friedman (who created the TV series The Sarah Connor Chronicles), David Goyer (Man of Steel), and Justin Rhodes (Grassroots) to be optimistic enough this could turn out to be what everyone has hoped every Terminator film would be since Judgment Day. Only time will tell, but in the meantime I’ll keep trying to convince people Genisys isn’t as bad as they think it is. Terminator: Dark Fate also stars Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, Diego Boneta, and opens on November 1st, 2019.

TERMINATOR GENISYS Review

After the one-two punch of Rise of the Machines and Salvation it's unclear who exactly was clamoring for more Terminator films, but Arnold Schwarzenegger's career clearly called for a boost and so here we are. It is easy to be cynical, but it's difficult to let go and embrace an entity for what it might be regardless of the strings attached and the fifth film in the Terminator franchise certainly had some heavy strings attached to it. From the moment the title was revealed with its misspelled subheading there has been something of a backlash towards the film, an inherent feeling that whatever this could be it would really only be little more than a cash grab and excuse to reinvigorate its stars dwindling career. The trailers, posters and overall spoiler-heavy promotional campaign did little to booster any kind of confidence in the final product and only added to the complete lack of interest on my part as the expectations really couldn't have been much lower. Given that environment I came away from Terminator Genisys rather surprised at how much I enjoyed myself. This brings us to the question of if a movie can be entertaining without necessarily being what we might typically consider "good"? As far as director Alan "Thor: The Dark World" Taylor is concerned it seems he thinks so as he has again crafted a cookie-cutter studio film that follows the template of any other action film and, if nothing else, creates an entertaining film that I was able to consistently have fun with as it continued to defy my expectations of not actually being horrible. The real tragedy of the project is that there might have actually been more to tap into here. With the two listed screenwriters being Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island, Alexander) and Patrick Lussier (Drive Angry) the expectations are again leveraged due to the somewhat bad quality of many of their credentials, but it's clear a lot of thought and planning was put into re-tooling the storylines of the first two films so that Arnold's T-800 might have a more substantial role and so Paramount might launch another trilogy of films. The problem is, the film never utilizes the social commentary or ideas around mortality that it touches on sporadically to be anything more interesting than a two-hour sizzle reel of action scenes.

MAGGIE Review

At first glance it would seem Maggie is an attempt to cash in on the zombie craze that has been spearheaded by the likes of serious-minded interpretation such as The Walking Dead. That a small, independent way of going about this story would be an interesting, more dramatic choice that would allow a sliver of the story The Walking Dead is telling might be something fascinating, compelling even. Now, I'm not necessarily the biggest fan of the The Walking Dead, but I can see what attracts people to it. They can pick up on the large metaphors at play or simply delve into the action and brutality that is presented week after week. Either way, tough choices have to be made. Emotions overtake logic and the repercussions of ones inability to put a bullet in the head of a loved one even when they are at your throat trying to rip through it says something about our mentality, our humanity and ultimately about the love and connection we sometimes feel that outweighs our own existence. What is life worth if not filled with the people you love? It's a valid question, a depressing thought, but these are the kinds of notions and ideas that the characters in Maggie must take into serious consideration. All of that said, one might be wondering what someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger is doing in a movie like this. A zombie apocalypse film, sure, but a somber, meditative zombie apocalypse film where the focus is not on surviving, but more on the relationship between the father and daughter? Strange, right? With the father facing the inevitability of losing his little girl and that little girl coming to terms with her own death Maggie isn't necessarily what you expect and for those reasons along with first-time feature director Henry Hobson having a clear vision of how to bring this story to life Maggie is something of an effective take on a genre that I presumed to be played out.

Trailer Roundup: SUPER BOWL XLIX

As Sunday draws closer we have begun to see early releases of not only commercials, but some of the movie spots that will be making their way into your living room this Sunday. Yesterday we got a glimpse of a few big releases including new looks at The Avengers, Terminator and The Divergent Series: Insurgent. Each of these promising some serious bang for your buck when they hit theaters. Revealing your entire spot has become common over the last few years and is understandable when you're spending $4.5 million for thirty seconds. We were able to get a quick peak at Brad Bird's Tomorrowland earlier this week, but you can catch the full spot from the broadcast now as well as the festive spot for Minions and the banned Hot Tub Time Machine 2 commercial that didn't air due to its content poking fun at deflategate. The first official trailer for Ted 2 dropped Thursday and now you can get a look at the big game spot featuring Tom Brady. Furious 7 also made a grand appearance and upped the ante for what we expect from this franchise by putting on display some insane stunts that hopefully don't give away the best parts of the movie. No surprise spot for Mission: Impossible 5, but there was that glimpse at Heroes Reborn that will be airing soon on NBC that I had no idea was even happening. Other trailers that aired include an enticing look at Jurassic World, Pitch Perfect 2, a game-incorporated Inside Out tease, this weeks Seventh Son and the Vince Vaughn comedy Unfinished Business. Check out all of the Super Bowl trailers below.

First Trailer for TERMINATOR: GENYSIS

I remember sitting in my first non-IMAX show of The Dark Knight in 2008 and seeing the trailer for Terminator: Salvation for the first time. There was a clear excitement in the air for it and not only because Christian Bale had a role, but because it had been a solid six years since the T-800 had hit the screen. Even better, director McG seemed genuinely invested in the story and continuing the saga of John Connor rather than simply capitalizing on the success of the earlier films. Well, believe it or not, but the same amount of time between Rise of the Machines and Salvation has again passed and next summer we will receive the fifth feature length film in the James Cameron spawned series. Unlike Salvation though, Terminator Genesys seems to exist solely to make Arnold Schwarzenegger a box office star again. The first trailer that dropped today gives us a look at the other side of the coin from the original 1984 film as we see the deliberations that went into future John Connor sending his fellow soldier, Kyle Reese, back in time to save his mother, Sarah. This time though screenwriters Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier have essentially scrapped the events of the original film in order to incorporate Schwarzenegger's character back into this world. Who knows, this could turn out to be better than this first look gives it credit for, but even the extravagant effects feel hollow. Directed by Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) Terminator Genesys has a lot to prove on its opening day as I was excited for Salvation and it proved little more than a distraction. If this is indeed as bad as it looks it may in fact be time for the Governor to call it quits. The film also stars Jason Clarke, Jai Courtney, Emilia Clarke, Matt Smith, Byung-hun Lee, Dayo Okeniyi, Courtney B. Vance, J.K. Simmons and opens on July 1, 2015.

THE EXPENDABLES 3 Review

Sylvester Stallone has defied what it means to be restless. The guy is beyond restless, he is still hungry and at 68 that is truly astonishing. You might think he and half of his co-stars in this third flick in the Expendables franchise might be tired of going through the motions and introducing new characters who are old friends with simple backstories, but defy you they will and with The Expendables 3 Stallone and crew have turned up the volume while toning down the blood and the swearing. I will admit to always having a good amount of fun with these movies and never really seeing any need to complain as they know what they are and more or less deliver on what they promise. To that point, I actually enjoyed what I can remember about the second one more than what I can remember about the first largely due to that finale where Stallone along with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis lined up and just gave us what we desperately hoped the first would deliver, not to mention the hand to hand combat showdown between Stallone and Jean Claude Van Damme. I appreciated the mixing of Stallone's mentality with Jason Statham who more or less is leading a new wave of action heroes today. These were elements we are meant to enjoy because of what they represent within the context of pop culture society and so I was at least appreciative for the countless winks and nods, the bad dialogue and the blood that spewed everywhere because that's what audiences wanted and that's what this mixed bag of knitty-gritty 80's stars and newly relevant tough guys planned to deliver. As we come to the third chapter in the saga though it is as if you can feel the toll the last two adventures have taken on our aging actioners no matter how much they try to mask it. The new rating wipes out a lot of the more honest aspects of what kind of relationships exist in a large group of all men and it certainly takes the CGI blood down a few notches (now there's just impact sounds!), but the elements of a large cast and a big action scene every now and then are still here, but the energy is clearly stalling.

New Trailer for THE EXPENDABLES 3

The Expendables films have not necessarily been good ones, but they have at least been good fun. I enjoyed the first one well enough to go see the second and the second one is so outrageous it almost bursts through its ceiling, but does well enough to maintain what this franchise set its sights on from the get-go. These aren't movies looking for high praise or top-caliber acting chops, but instead they are a mash-up of nostalgia and primitive movie-making that become as much an experiment as an experience. An experiment because they have, to this point, avoided computerized weaponry and other high-tech gadgets for pure, meat-headed bliss and an experience of nostalgia because it is what we expect from the mind of Sylvester Stallone. With the script penned by two others besides Stallone and the director chair taken by newcomer to the series Patrick Hughes I can only hope the series isn't getting away from what made the original so appealing in its premise and execution. These films are supposed to transcend current Hollywood trends and be nothing more than pure 80's pulp, but in what has become an ever changing roster of aging and up and coming action stars the films have been more about the expanding universe than the central conceit. Director of part two Simon West knew his way around an old-school action movie, but the text alone in this new trailer along with the sleek sky-diving shots against blue-lit buildings suggests something much more modern in the Expendables future. I can only hope Stallone reminded Hughes of this series' roots and that they keep this frame of mind intact as it would be a shame to waste the additions of Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson on a lousy third (and possibly final) act. The Expendables 3 also stars Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Kelsey Grammer, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Victor Ortiz, Glen Powell and opens August 15.

SABOTAGE Review

First and foremost, I really wanted to love Sabotage. Like, I was totally up for it and was ready to have just a ridiculous amount of mind-numbing fun and by all accounts audiences had every right to expect the same things. Thinking about it in the light that director David Ayer was coming off one of his better written films with easily his best directing job to date and stacked with a cast as lumbering and raucous as that of Arnie's Expendables co-horts with names just slightly less major, but even more credible to the point where I really thought this had the shot to turn out to be something quietly major, a slight cultural mainstay that would fester on the minds of cinephiles over the years and become regarded as a well-loved box office flop that found its following long after it left the theaters. There were glimmers of hope on the horizon when the first action-packed trailer premiered and was followed by several others complete with red-band access as well. There is an interesting film somewhere in here and as I look through my notes I jotted down while watching the film, I keep coming across pieces where I remember wanting so much for this to become that something better, that kind of retrospective Arnold Schwarzenegger film that did as much to entertain us in the moment as it also gave us a look at how a man in his late 60's finds himself slipping in terms of esteem and credibility while having to come to terms with his physical limitations. In a sense, I wanted a large metaphorical action drama that mirrored the life of our star, but instead, Sabotage is as well thought out as the plan at the heart of the plot. It feels quickly shot, rushed through editing with a soundtrack that couldn't sound more generic and a group of supporting actors that almost make this feel like someones first student film. It is hard to take a film seriously when it tries so hard to be exactly that, but by the time the smoke from the opening sequence has dispersed and we begin to get to know the characters involved and are forced to listen to their incessant cussing to the point it actually begins to insult their own intelligence and we no longer buy that these people could do these jobs effectively, the curtain has been pulled back and we realize what we're actually in for is a mess of a flick in perfectly positioned B-movie clothing.

First Trailer for SABOTAGE

We're less than a week away from the opening of the latest Jason Statham actioner which also happens to be written by his Expendables co-star Sylbester Stallone and thus we now have our first look at their other co-stars latest project that will no doubt play in front of Homefront this Thanksgiving. I've been hearing some pretty positive things concerning Statham's latest outing though and despite the recent box office misfires this crew of action stars has faced ole Arnie looks as if he may have something a little "different" on his hands as well that may just do the trick for his non-Expendable movie career. Sabotage is billed as a loose adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic mystery Ten Little Indians and sees Schwarzenegger heading up a DEA task force that makes a major arrest of a cartel leader only to see its members begin to be picked off one by one after a fair amount of the money seized in the capture goes missing. I'm actually pretty excited for this one as David Ayer is handling directing duties and produced one of my favorite films of last year (End of Watch) and is heading up one of my most anticipated for 2014 (Fury). While he didn't write the script for this film as well he seems to have captured the camaraderie and intense tone of the content with fun and important precision. The trailer gives just enough of the plot points without getting too heavily into much of the second or third acts it seems and exploits the charisma between its large ensemble cast which will no doubt be a selling point as, besides the Governor, the film also features Joe Manganiello, Sam Worthington, Harold Perrineau, Terrence Howard, Max Martini, Josh Holloway, Olivia Williams, and Mireille Enos. Sabotage is set to get us all ready for Summer 2014 when it opens on April 11th.

ESCAPE PLAN Review

In the early months of 2013 audiences everywhere were overwhelmed with the amount of testosterone-filled action flicks that typically didn't see the light of day until the prime to late summer months, but this was different as each of these were more a solo effort from a band of well-tested performers that did well enough together, but couldn't pass up the temptation of breaking out on their own. Whether it be Arnold Schwarzenegger's fun and entertaining comeback flick The Last Stand, Sylvester Stallone's bleak and dreary Bullet to the Head or even Jason Statham's five-hundredth attempt at playing a hit man in Parker or Bruce Willis taking up the ole McClain name again for another Die Hard go around, the fact of the matter is that none of these performed all too well and left most of us simply yearning for a time when they all re-unite and turn out another Expendables movie (except for you Bruce Willis, you greedy bastard!). Needless to say, this didn't bode well for the other flick Stallone and Schwarzenegger teamed up to make this year; originally titled The Tomb and later changed to Escape Plan. But hey, at least they were pairing up for this one which had to mean some level of excitement would follow, right? While this could most definitely be debated and likely go either way with plenty of support on either side I was personally pretty excited to see what kind of over-the-top antics these guys could get into and put up on screen at their age. And while they may not be the marquee names or box office draws that they used to be on their own, Escape Plan is a more than competent action flick with such an outlandishly intriguing plot and strong sense of pacing that we never get bored, are never taken out of the plot turns and are right in the thick of the conflict with Stallone's Ray Breslin and Schwarzenegger's Emil Rottmayer that we don't care to step back and examine its shortcomings or bother to comment on the acting. Reality is checked at the door and despite the fact this will be one of those films that will play countless times on HBO and eventually FX where it will no doubt be easier to take it for what it is I can't say I didn't enjoy myself to the fullest as I experienced what is the pure definition of unabashed, unadulterated B-movie brilliance.  

First Trailer for ESCAPE PLAN

Once referred to as The Tomb, the first trailer has arrived for the latest collaboration between action juggernauts Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Now titled Escape Plan, the story is one of Stallone's character being the foremost authority on prison security who is backhanded into a prison of his own design where he makes friends with Schwarzenegger's Swan (yes, his name in this movie is Swan) and they naturally create a plan to break out and be seriously bad ass in the process. It seems, at least from the trailer, that both stars are plenty aware of their current public personas and somewhat have a sly way of letting us know they're smarter than this material, but they know this is the type of movie we like to see them make. Still, the enthusiasm for this team-up might be somewhat waning as Expendables 2 didn't fare as well as expected last summer and both of these guys solo January/February efforts were rather solid duds. That isn't to say the style and genre in which those films were made (as throwbacks to the kinds of films that made them household names in the first place) was the wrong place to go, but there was nothing there for anyone to get too excited about. Here, there looks to at least be somewhat of an engaging premise that goes past simply blowing things up and finding the bad guy. There is a mind game aspect to the whole thing that require brains and brawn and not just the latter. It isn't always bad to have some brainless fun and the "Expendable" series provides that is spades, so there needs to be some type of different flavor mixed in with these other projects. Escape Plan will of course have plenty of action going for it as well, but I'm comforted by the presence of a strong supporting cast that includes Jim Caviezel, Vinnie Jones, Vincent D’Onofrio, Sam Neill, Amy Ryan and hey, even Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson seems to be well-handled here. Escape Plan also opens in the doldrums between the summer and Oscar seasons on September 27th which should help it find a bigger audience longing to have just a few more of those long, hot days back.

THE LAST STAND Review

You get what you pay for with The Last Stand and though that may be a generic movie, it is a generic action movie in top form. It earns this reputation largely due to the fact it has the man who defined the action genre at its center. It is a good thing Arnold Schwarzenegger chose this as his welcome back film otherwise it wouldn't be nearly as fun or even been made in the first place I imagine. There has been a good amount of positive press going towards these kind of throwback films to 80's no-brainer B-movies that shoot first and think later. Schwarzenegger has been featured in both Expendable films and though he makes his grand return with this one he doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon as he will re-team with pal Sylvester Stallone again later this year in The Tomb. As the first shoot, think later train of thought plays fast and loose with the standard script structure allowing plausibility and logic to fly right out the window, none of it matters as the reason people even go to see a movie like this is not for the insightful story or original storytelling methods but instead to see things and people blow up. There is no shortage of that here as director Jee-woon Kim makes his English-language debut with a film that mixes in tons of over-the-top violence with a cartoonish style that never meshes as well as it should to find a balance in tone. I haven't seen any of Kim's previous films, but despite his lack of story to work with and his tendencies to sway between gritty and silly the guy knows how to utilize his star and he plays that angle nicely. He helps the iconic action star prove he really might be back even if not as many people were waiting on his return as he expected.

THE EXPENDABLES 2 Review

In my review of the first Expendables film I ended it by saying that the film was nothing more than a good time and I imagine that is all Sylvester Stallone really desired for his audience to have. That he did a fine job at achieving that goal and that I couldn't wait for the sequel, quipping that maybe Jean-Claude Van Damme would show up next time. One can imagine my excitement when it was actually announced that the Muscles from Brussels would not only be showing up in The Expendables 2, but would be playing the bad guy. Perfect! It is easy to criticize these films for their lack of any kind of ambition outside of the bad 80's action flicks they intend to pay homage to, but that is their purpose and if you go in wanting or expecting anything more than that you will be sorely disappointed. If you know what to expect at all though I can't see how one could not thoroughly enjoy themselves as this sequel is everything the sequels of that action hey day aspired to be. Bigger, louder, and packed with even more action heroes with more bullets to hand out than you could ever imagine. While I looked forward to the first film for the reasons of seeing Stallone's old school style and ideals mix with someone leading the new school such as Jason Statham that excitement has passed and so to find something to actually look forward to and invest in with the sequel we find it to be the fact that there is an even bigger palette of action stars than the first one offered. We look to see the minor cameo roles of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger expand to where these three titans of the genre stand together on the front lines. The last twenty minutes is worth the price of admission alone and to boot, this is so ridiculously entertaining you'll find your self surprised at how much you can't wait to see The Expendables 3.

From left: Maggie (Yu Nan), Caesar (Terry Crews), Barney
(Sylvester Stallone), Road (Randy Couture) and Gunner
(Dolph Lundgren) are the Expendables.

While story only matters so much in a movie like this, there is a surprising amount of attention paid to the details here. We open this time with a major action set piece, something I wanted from the first film that felt a little underwhelming. Barney Ross (Stallone) and his crew that includes Lee Christmas (Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), Toll Road (Randy Couture) and newcomer Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) bust through some poor little Nepal town where the old school mercenaries blow holes in everyone who gets in their way, busting down structures with their parade of tanks all in order to rescue a Chinese businessman for God knows what reasons. It is purely the set up to re-introduce us to the wide cast of characters while putting on display exactly how outlandish and graphic the violence of the film is going to be. Li's character is dismissed early as he escorts the businessman back to their hometown so we are treated to some nice bonding moments and a hint at a storyline that is never further explored that has Barney disliking Christmas's plans to move forward in his relationship after the cheating episode of part one. This is minor to the introduction of little Hemsworth though who is an expert sniper and slowly taking that place of Barney's right hand man from Christmas. That is, until Billy admits the life isn't for him. The thick of the plot begins when Willis's Church comes a callin' for the payback Barney and his boys owe him. Church sends them on a seemingly simple mission that asks them to take along female tech genius Maggie (Yu Nan) and retrieve an item from a safe on an airplane that crashed in Albania. The mission is completed quickly, but the victory is short lived as Jean Vilain (Van Damme) and yes, that's seriously his characters name, kidnaps one of the Expendables and demands the item from the plane. Barney is hesitant, but gives in while Vilain takes the life of his captive anyway. It is now personal, and you know they're going to make sure they get revenge.

Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Barney, and Church
(Bruce Willis) let loose on their enemies.

As far as summer blockbusters go, it will be hard to beat this one in terms of pure enjoyment. There is a sense of carelessness, of fun that goes along with the ride the film takes you on while still containing some nice attempts at genuine emotional moments as well as several hilarious bits, some of which are even intentional. In this aspect I think I may have laughed at The Expendables 2 more than any other comedy that came out in the past three or four months. There is a point in the film where the team is trapped, surrounded by members of Van Damme's gang known as the Sangs. Naturally, there is no way all of these guys can bite the bullet and so who else is there to come to the rescue but Chuck Norris? Literally every time Norris appears on screen as the lone wolf Booker I was smiling. It completely epitomizes the cheesiness of the series yet perfectly captures the tone that Stallone established in the first one and director Simon West carries over so well in this one. West is no stranger to big, giant action films as he's made a few successful ones of his own including Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, as well as working previously with Statham on The Mechanic. The director not only improves on the way in which they convey the intentional, almost satiric tone of the films but he also stages the action pieces with a more brutal force. Whereas under Stallone's direction there were clearly a few messy edits and sloppy action sequences built on great ideas that didn't transition as well to the screen as I would have hoped, they seem all the better choreographed here while still allowing each character a moment to shine. There is no shortage of action here though, and the whole thing is completely relentless in its goal to create an all-out, over the top action movie they just don't make anymore. If they were made more often The Expendable  films likely wouldn't have as much charm as they do, so the film ultimately benefits from being one of a kind in this day and age.

Bad guy Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) faces off against
Barney in the finale.

In my initial reaction to the first film I was so in love with the idea of the film and was satisfied enough with the final product that I gave it a rating of three and a half stars. That was my initial gut in what I would rate this film as well. Looking back I would probably take away the half star or maybe even a whole from the original. That speaks bad for the first film, but it means well for this second entry in the series as it shows the potential for what that first movie should have reached. Does it mean there isn't room for the third one to grow and be even better? Of course not, with this series there will seemingly always be room for improvement and they are far from perfect, but they serve their purpose as well as any Oscar bait drama. There is plenty of bad acting and horrible dialogue here, but Hemsworth lends the movie a bit of credibility while Van Damme is living it up, making what could have been a stale role this juicy experiment as this ridiculous villain who plays up every cliche of a foreign bad guy you could imagine. The final showdown between Van Damme and Stallone will elicit several cheers while the corny dialogue exchanges between Willis and Schwarzenegger in the heat of battle will have you rolling in the aisles. I can only imagine Stallone intended to have another successful franchise on his resume when he began to shape this idea of an orgy of action heroes rolled into one film together into an actual reality and he has delivered what he promised, only improving on the formula this time around. I really am excited about part three coming down the tube. I hear Eastwood may show up next time or we may even get a trip inside the Cage on top of what will no doubt already be the most bombastic chapter yet.

THE EXPENDABLES 2 Review

In my review of the first Expendables film I ended it by saying that the film was nothing more than a good time and I imagine that is all Sylvester Stallone really desired for his audience to have. That he did a fine job at achieving that goal and that I couldn't wait for the sequel, quipping that maybe Jean-Claude Van Damme would show up next time. One can imagine my excitement when it was actually announced that the Muscles from Brussels would not only be showing up in The Expendables 2, but would be playing the bad guy. Perfect! It is easy to criticize these films for their lack of any kind of ambition outside of the bad 80's action flicks they intend to pay homage to, but that is their purpose and if you go in wanting or expecting anything more than that you will be sorely disappointed. If you know what to expect at all though I can't see how one could not thoroughly enjoy themselves as this sequel is everything the sequels of that action hey day aspired to be. Bigger, louder, and packed with even more action heroes with more bullets to hand out than you could ever imagine. While I looked forward to the first film for the reasons of seeing Stallone's old school style and ideals mix with someone leading the new school such as Jason Statham that excitement has passed and so to find something to actually look forward to and invest in with the sequel we find it to be the fact that there is an even bigger palette of action stars than the first one offered. We look to see the minor cameo roles of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger expand to where these three titans of the genre stand together on the front lines. The last twenty minutes is worth the price of admission alone and to boot, this is so ridiculously entertaining you'll find your self surprised at how much you can't wait to see The Expendables 3.