The Expendables

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, David Zayas, Giselle Itie, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis (uncredited), Arnold Schwarzenegger (uncredited)
Directed by: Sylvester Stallone
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
2010

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of mercenaries (Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Terry Crews) takes a dangerous job involving a Latin American island and taking down the corrupt ex-CIA agent (Eric Roberts) running the show there.

Review:

Tim: The Expendables is a hard movie to pin down. There is much to like here, but the movie has some big disappointments as well. I really went back-and-forth on this film- was it a decent action movie, or did I actually consider it good? It was not an easy decision.

The reason to like this movie is simple- because it is supremely awesome to see all these great action stars together. Seeing Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, and Jet Li working together was so much fun. Seeing great battles like Stallone vs. Steve Austin, or Jet Li vs. Dolph Lundgren is something that you don't see every day, and for those scenes, I was very thankful.

This film is also noteworthy for the big scene- the first time Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis ever appeared together. I absolutely loved seeing Stallone and Schwarzenegger on screen at the same time. And yet, I was also disappointed here. This scene should have been Pacino-De Niro in Heat big. And yet, it wasn't. The scene is marred by awful, awkward dialogue. Schwarzenegger and Willis never actually appear on screen at the same time (how hard would it have been to give us ONE wide shot of these three legends?). These things nearly ruin this potentially amazing scene. I desperately wish that this had been longer- Schwarzenegger and Willis just aren't on screen long enough, and neither has anything interesting to do. While that is disappointing, the fact that Schwarzenegger and Stallone have lines together is still pretty awesome.

Now, besides seeing all these action stars on screen together, there's less to get excited about. Sure, there are some impressive action scenes- the plane shooting and explosion was exceptionally cool. There are some pretty good fight scenes, and an almost ridiculous amount of explosions. However, there's some pretty big flaws, too. The dialogue is almost completely atrocious. I never really believed any of these guys were friends. They all looked like they were trying too hard- everything felt forced, and nothing felt natural. That's a huge shame. The script definitely recalls the classic 80s action movies, when the good guys were obviously good, and the bad guys obviously bad. I appreciated the throwback, but some of those movies were pretty cheesy, and we get some of that here.

I do want to talk about the cast. Sylvester Stallone is good in the lead role, but I felt like his acting was forced. He and Statham didn't really interact all that well- they were supposed to be best friends, but I never saw that chemistry. Statham is guilty of this as well. He's great when he's frowning and beating people up- the basketball court fight scene was great. However, when he's supposed to be relaxing, smiling (or for God's sake, reciting poetry), he seems awkward and uncomfortable. That was not very good.

I loved the casting of Mickey Rourke, but I wish he had more to do. He gives perhaps the best performance of the film- his scene in the mirror is one of the most powerful and best of the film. Rourke was great, but his role was limited. Eric Roberts makes a very good bad guy, but he was almost too obvious. He would have worked better in those 80s action films this one payed homage to. I wanted a more complex villain. Jet Li was pretty good, both on the acting and the action standpoints. Dolph Lundgren was pretty enjoyable as well- I was glad to see him here, even though I thought his character's story and eventual fate was pretty weak. Steve Austin was menacing, and made a good thug. I also really enjoyed David Zayas- he was very well cast.

I really struggled with whether assembling all these action stars together and giving them some cool fight scenes was enough to overcome the shortcomings of the film. Ultimately, I decided that it didn't do this completely. The dialogue was so bad and came across as so forced and awkward that it took me out of the film. I wanted to like these guys, but I never believed any of them had worked together or were real friends. It's not enough just to have a good cast- they have to act well together. The Expendables is certainly a decent action movie, but it could have been so much more. That being said, I admit I am hoping for a sequel.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Rambo, Die Hard, Iron Man 2, The Wrestler, War, The One, The Transporter, Rocky