Stallone!, Statham!, Li! and Lundgren! are back for The Expendables 2 which this time sees Stallone’s “Barney Ross” and his gang of aging and hardcore mercenaries unite again after one of their own team members is killed during an assignment. They are eventually reunited by the shadowy CIA Operative “Mr Church” [Bruce Willis] whose aim is to get payback against new villain, Jean Vilain [Jean Claude Van-Damme], who hopes to get his hands on a deadly weapon.
The Expendables 2 is an entertaining enough sequel especially for those who enjoy seeing a movie that features cheesy one liners, clunky action scenes and old school action hero’s, should put a smile on every fan of the action genre.
The good:
The main entertainment value in The Expendables 2 is seeing the likes Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger and other classic action hero’s from the 80’s, come together to showcase their talent and stand toe-to-toe with other movies to show why they still remain the icons of the genre. Even Chuck Norris features a small but memorable appearance as “Booker”, another mercenary who joins forces with “Barney Ross”. The movie also features new rising star, Liam Hemsworth [brother of “Thor” Chris Hemsworth], as new recruit “Billy the Kid”.
The films other main joy is the chemistry between the characters which is more plausible than the first movie where the chemistry was non-existent, this time round it is more believable as it often sets off some frequently funny banter and the characters gel well together than just standing toe-to-toe to see who’s more macho.
The other highlight of the The Expendables 2 is the action which puts the first one to same when it comes to set pieces as there are plenty of them to satisfy action fans, there is a great standoff between Stallone and Van-Damme.
Also because this time round is directed by Simon West not Sylvester Stallone [even though he co-wrote the script alongside Richard Wenk], the action is handled with more skill but stills looks clunky when it comes to the editing.
The Expendables 2 is not a film to be taken seriously; think of it like an old school reunion which brings together the best action hero’s of the genre and sparks off great memories of their earlier films e.g. one liners such as “I’ll be back”, “yippee ki yay”. Its great fun to see Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Willis together in one shot in the movie which they take Van-Damme down together in an icon shot that this film remembered for.
Expendables 2 Poster/BannerThe bad:
The Expendables 2 isn’t all glamor with great stars and big action set pieces as the script focuses on more characters than others as Jet li’ character hardly gets a look-in and that story feels rushed just so it can squeezed in one action scene after another.
Conclusion:
Overall, The Expendables 2 is an entertaining; grab your popcorn action-flick that features a knockout cast of action icons and some explosive action scenes. It’s a great Friday night movie that passes the time nicely and with another Expendables movie already planned, there are no signs of these ageing icons slowing down any time soon.