Directed by:
Sylvester StalloneCinematography:
Jeffrey L. KimballComposer:
Brian TylerCast:
Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, David Zayas, Giselle Itié, Charisma Carpenter (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
Barney Ross (SYLVESTER STALLONE) is a man with nothing to lose. Fearless and void of emotion he is the leader, the sage and the strategist of this tight knit band of men who live on the fringe. His only attachment is to his pickup truck, his seaplane, and his team of loyal modern day warriors. He is a true cynic who describes what he does as “removing those hard to get at stains”. The team behind him is made up of Lee Christmas (JASON STATHAM), former SAS and a savant with anything that has a blade, Yin Yang (JET LI), a master at close quarter combat, Hale Caesar (TERRY CREWS), who has known Barney for 10 years and is a long barrel weapons specialist, Toll Road (RANDY COUTURE), a skilled demolitions expert and considered the intellect of the group and Gunnar Jensen (DOLPH LUNDGREN), a combat veteran and an expert in precision sniping who struggles with his own demons. When the mysterious Church (TBD) offers Barney a job no one else would take, Barney and his team of expendables embark on what appears to be a routine mission; over throw General Gaza (DAVID ZAYAS), the murderous dictator of the small island country of Vilena and end the years of death and destruction inflicted on its people. On a reconnaissance mission to Vilena, Barney and Christmas meet their contact, Sandra (GISELLE ITIE), a local freedom fighter with a dark secret. They also come to learn who their true enemy is; rogue ex-CIA operative James Monroe (ERIC ROBERTS) and his henchman Paine (STEVE AUSTIN). When things go terribly wrong, Barney and Christmas are forced to leave Sandra behind, essentially giving her a death sentence. Haunted by this failure Barney convinces the team to return to Vilena to rescue the hostage and finish the job he started. And to perhaps save a soul... his own. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (11)
The script was so stupid and leaky that even 80 of them couldn't carry it. The church scene was great though, no question about it. But afterwards? I'll quote Subjective: “shot, ‘pow’, shot, ‘bang’, shot, ‘smack’, shot, ‘left hook’, shot, ‘right hook’, shot, ‘tie’, shot ‘crane’. By the time I understood where the action was happening, I was already watching it from somewhere else." Most of the time I didn't care who was doing the shooting, or why (because the reasons were either nonexistent or stupid and pathetic), and because the shooting went on for most of the movie... I'll watch the second one, it's supposedly better; but I guess since I was looking forward to it so much, it ended up being very, very disappointing. A weak 2 stars.
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Arnold’s back... It worked! Stallone proved that a bunch of action legends won’t get in each other’s way, they can work together as a team in a movie about guys, for guys. The action is some top-notch, good, honest work that cost a lot of blood, sweat and broken bones, and the end result is totally worth it. The bombastic finale, the brawls and the brilliant old-style car chase. It’s beautiful. The cast is a whole other chapter of its own. THAT scene is milked to the last one-liner, every wink, every little jab is a sight to sore eyes for someone who was brought up on these old guys. Jason Statham has broken the jinx of co-starring fails with Jet Li. And Jet’s grumbling little squirt is such an impossibly nice guy, it’s incredible. Dolph Lundgren, one word – awesome. Ok, I’ll cut it short, but I must mention Eric Roberts who, if you don’t count the bad guy monolog, had almost exclusively snappy lines. And Tyler’s music rumbled away in all the right ways. A heartfelt matter. ...Arnold left. Now Sly’s here. Warning shot!
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The ultimate action carnage led by the fighting elite turned out pretty decent IMHO. The action scenes were pretty brutal, the soundtrack was pretty pumped up and the cast was really badass. Some of the effects were glaring, as was the point of a few scenes, but as a whole it stood at 75% for me. In short, a parade of action stars who came together in one film to give you a good beating.
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Paradoxically, it should have been even duller and more straightforward. The film is particularly damaging by the pursuit of a sophisticated motivation for a lifelong killer who wants to save at least a piece of his empty soul. In Rambo IV, Stallone drowned it in blood and bulldog focus, here the film struggles with it and has trouble explaining to the viewer why the characters are where they are and why they do what they do. Regardless, The Expendables looks like disparate testosterone action sketches and a spelling-book of "meta-movie" catchphrases (the more you know the map of the 80s, the more you enjoy them). The event is solidly physical, but confusing in places for my taste – those attempts at "Greengrass kinetics" – and rushed. The film is also lacking the 80’s drive in the style of "you killed my uncle, so I’m going to hurt you now". I had a good time, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Stallone didn't cross the magic line and fall into that retro river completely. Sometimes he seems to try to "talk" his way into it unnecessarily when the door needs to be kicked in. That's why I'm hesitating about giving it a fourth star.
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Stallone is such an experienced hard worker and intelligent person that he basically confirmed what was expected, and he doesn't disappoint in The Expendables. He made exactly what was expected of him, paying homage to classic action movies of the past decade. There is a clear and distinctive directorial style (gore, action), which is a good thing, of course. But on the other hand, considering that the last Rambo was made by the same director, I would have expected a more coherent action. Overall, it is watchable, so mission accomplished.
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