Review of The Expendables 2 (2012) by Mloy X — 21 Jan 2014

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone: I've heard another rumor, that you were bitten by a king cobra?

Booker (Chuck Norris): Yeah, I was. But after five days of agonizing pain, the cobra died.

A paltry effort for a sequel, reminiscent of the last installment of the "Ocean's" franchise. This movie had a ridiculous plot and far too many characters most of which were completely unnecessary and added nothing to the film: Arnold, Bruce and yes, sadly Chuck too. The movie was so over-packed with former, action stars that some of the important principle cast (*coughs* Jet Li) barely got any real play. The acting from most the cast was shallow at best and I admire Stallone for wanting to a bit of story and trying very, very hard to a dramatic undertones to this otherwise slug-fest of a film but it was too forced and comes across as disingenuous. The odd man out was Liam Hemsworth since he's not as big an action star as his brother, but surprisingly he was the best part of this film. With the exception on Hemsworth, Li and Statham (who was also brilliant in the church scene by the way); everyone else looks old and tired. I hate to say it but you guys should have quit while you were ahead. Take a cue from Rourke.