The Expendables series was supposed to be bring back the thrills of the great 80s action films. Nostalgia is the safe go-to for audiences of today, and Stallone knows this. Most of the man's career has revolved around him playing the same roles for over 30 years. The trailer came out and it was extremely promising. Bringing in actors like Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis and what do you know? Stallone was even directing, a man who had proved himself a competent action director. Even of recent years, Rambo IV was pretty awesome. Ironically however, these 80s stars created something as dull and humourless as today's modern action films. Where was the fun? Where was the one liners? What should have been a spectacle piece with soul was a shaky-cam filled ride of nauseating proportions. Sure there were some small moments of fun, but they were few and far between. So, has the third iteration in the series any good? Not really.
The movie follows The Expendables on a mission to stop a weapon's trade, they discover an old foe once thought dead (Gibson), takes out one of their own. Their leader, Barney (Stallone), to keep the rest of his Expendables brethren safe, goes on a suicide mission with a new younger team to exact revenge.
Here lies the fundamental problem with the film - the actual Expendables aren't the focus of the movie. There's been an attempt by the filmmakers to attract a younger audience by bringing in fresh, younger 'action stars' and of course the PG-13 rating, the series' first. This could have worked, if they hired ANYBODY who had a star credit in the past three years. Instead, the audience is subjected to a bunch of no-name stars running around, spouting annoying banter at one another. The reason why people come to see these movies are for the nostalgia of the past films these actors have been in, and that they are in a film altogether. So when you disband what the audiences came for and replace them with a bunch of nobodies, you're completely alienating your existing fan base. What people want to see if Rocky and The Terminator killing bad guys together, and when you just replace them with regular mercenaries, it isn't special to the viewers anymore.
That's not to say that's the only problem with the film. For this type of movie, motives of character's aren't entirely clear. Why would Barney abandon his loyal team ready to fight by his side for a bunch of random mercenaries? The action is still largely incoherent, with either way too many cuts during the scene or really poorly executed fight choreography. The visual effects department looks like it had to take a pay cut for the actor's, there is better CGI on Agent's of Shield (every car ride is flat green-screen, one scene with a base jumper just looks completely unfinished). The editing - dear lord - the editing in this movie is some of the worse I have seen in a film in a long time. There are multiple cutaways to things for a minuscule amount of time that the audience has no idea what it is (a scene ends with a guy who the audience hasn't picking up a magazine and leaving), or is completely unintentionally hilarious with how the cut has been executed. The main example that sticks out is a scene that slowly zooms in dramatically on Stallone's face for about thirty seconds, as if the character was about to have a flashback, just to cut straight to the next scene at a hospital. However, the biggest crime this film commits is it's waste of talent. Jet Li is one of the top billed actors, and yet has about 90 seconds of screen time. Wesley Snipes has a fun and humorous introduction to his character, but then is just relegated to the background after the first act. Terry Crews is one of the most charismatic actors in films today and he is COMPLETELY wasted in the movie.
This movie is getting a 4/10 from me, because there are several elements that save this lazily made film. Antonio Banderas is an absolute joy to watch, giving a crazy, over the top performance that would make Nicolas Cage jealous. Mel Gibson, whilst more restrained, gives his all as the crazy bad guy, and although the majority of the visual effects are an eyesore, the stunt work in the third act of the film is quite impressive and even engaging.
Skip this one, go watch Guardians at the cinemas again.
The movie follows The Expendables on a mission to stop a weapon's trade, they discover an old foe once thought dead (Gibson), takes out one of their own. Their leader, Barney (Stallone), to keep the rest of his Expendables brethren safe, goes on a suicide mission with a new younger team to exact revenge.
Here lies the fundamental problem with the film - the actual Expendables aren't the focus of the movie. There's been an attempt by the filmmakers to attract a younger audience by bringing in fresh, younger 'action stars' and of course the PG-13 rating, the series' first. This could have worked, if they hired ANYBODY who had a star credit in the past three years. Instead, the audience is subjected to a bunch of no-name stars running around, spouting annoying banter at one another. The reason why people come to see these movies are for the nostalgia of the past films these actors have been in, and that they are in a film altogether. So when you disband what the audiences came for and replace them with a bunch of nobodies, you're completely alienating your existing fan base. What people want to see if Rocky and The Terminator killing bad guys together, and when you just replace them with regular mercenaries, it isn't special to the viewers anymore.
That's not to say that's the only problem with the film. For this type of movie, motives of character's aren't entirely clear. Why would Barney abandon his loyal team ready to fight by his side for a bunch of random mercenaries? The action is still largely incoherent, with either way too many cuts during the scene or really poorly executed fight choreography. The visual effects department looks like it had to take a pay cut for the actor's, there is better CGI on Agent's of Shield (every car ride is flat green-screen, one scene with a base jumper just looks completely unfinished). The editing - dear lord - the editing in this movie is some of the worse I have seen in a film in a long time. There are multiple cutaways to things for a minuscule amount of time that the audience has no idea what it is (a scene ends with a guy who the audience hasn't picking up a magazine and leaving), or is completely unintentionally hilarious with how the cut has been executed. The main example that sticks out is a scene that slowly zooms in dramatically on Stallone's face for about thirty seconds, as if the character was about to have a flashback, just to cut straight to the next scene at a hospital. However, the biggest crime this film commits is it's waste of talent. Jet Li is one of the top billed actors, and yet has about 90 seconds of screen time. Wesley Snipes has a fun and humorous introduction to his character, but then is just relegated to the background after the first act. Terry Crews is one of the most charismatic actors in films today and he is COMPLETELY wasted in the movie.
This movie is getting a 4/10 from me, because there are several elements that save this lazily made film. Antonio Banderas is an absolute joy to watch, giving a crazy, over the top performance that would make Nicolas Cage jealous. Mel Gibson, whilst more restrained, gives his all as the crazy bad guy, and although the majority of the visual effects are an eyesore, the stunt work in the third act of the film is quite impressive and even engaging.
Skip this one, go watch Guardians at the cinemas again.