Review of The Expendables 2 (2012) by Stevenf — 02 Mar 2013

The more I watched the first instalment of Sly Stallone's ensemble action flick, the more I disliked it, but this certainly changes the pace and creates an over the top action bonanza with a half-decent story and plenty of one-liners to amuse the array of fanboys witnessing this film.

The original cast return in the form of Stallone, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, Dolph Lundgren and Terry Crews with the exception of Mickey Rourke, and Jet Li disappears very early in the film after taking the hostage the team rescued at the start of the film back to his country. The Expendables 2 opens up all guns blazing and we find ourselves introduced to the return of Arnold Schwarenegger as rival mercenary Trench, who Barney (Sly Stallone) and his team rescue.

But after tragedy strikes the team, they seek revenge on the sunglasses-wearing Jean Claude Van Damme, playing the big bad Jean Villain (yeah, I know), who is after a buried stash of plutonium, underground since the Cold War, and he intends to sell it, not if these ageing action stars have anything to do with it.

The film certainly tries its best to re-capture the magic of 80s action, and almost does it without the flaw, what should have been left in the cold was the CGI in this, it is quite dodgy in many scenes and just seems unnecessary when you look at the amount of talent involved in the feature.

A few squabbles aside, the chemistry between the main cast members is excellent, almost like a few guys out in a bar having a few drinks, but I think it is the emergence of the special guests who make an appearance in the film, particularly Schwarzenegger Bruce Willis and of course the legend and master of the most ridiculous facts in history, Chuck Norris, and one of these facts is even given a line in the film, simply ridiculous but absolutely brilliant.

The film could have the potential to make you laugh more times than most comedies out at the moment, they don't take themselves seriously, they just want to have fun, the dialogue is often silly but at times witty, one moment in particular when Norris comes to the aid of Schwarzeneggar, the latter turns and says "Who's next..Rambo?".

Its a could homage to the ageing franchise of cheesy yet throughly enjoyable action movies, and with this genre rapidly disappearing, why not keep these guys around? Lets have fun as long as we can, because they seem to be doing the same.