Review of The Expendables (2000) by Manny J — 31 Dec 2012
Crammed full of desperate attempts at machismo at every opportunity, but the campy throwbacks to old 80s action movies are pretty well handled. A lot of the dialogue is clumsy exposition and a forced effort to sound cool, some of the humor in it actually lands though.
Where the movie really falls flat is during attempts to take the premise seriously, and the dramatic scenes end up being outright terrible. Mickey Rourke's minor role as a retired mercenary is surprisingly strong, although the writing doesn't quite support his talent, and Dolph Lundgren's part is over the top to the point of being unintentionally funny.
Eric Roberts is a decently sleazy villain, and the Latin American dictator he works with is a pretty generic character but one who fits this sort of movie. For something built around such famous action stars there are surprisingly few there aren't as many action beats as I expected, but those in it are massive enough to make up for it.
Some of the one-on-one fights are very well done, although the chase scenes are frantic to the point of being almost incomprehensible.
This review of The Expendables (2000) was written by Manny J on 31 Dec 2012.
The Expendables has generally received mixed reviews.
Was this review helpful?
