Rated
R (Strong Bloody Violence Throughout)
Running
Time: 1 Hour & 43 Minutes
Cast-
Sylvester
Stallone-Barney Ross
Jason
Statham-Lee Christmas
Jet
Li-Yin Yang
Dolph
Lundgren-Gunner Jensen
Terry
Crews-Hale Caesar
Randy
Couture-Toll Road
Yu
Nan-Maggie Chen
Liam
Hemsworth-Billy the Kid
Jean-Claude
Van Damme-Jean Vilain
Chuck
Norris-Booker
Bruce
Willis-Mr. Church
Arnold
Schwarzenegger-Trench
Scott
Adkins-Hector
Charisma
Carpenter-Lacy
Directed
by Simon West
 |
| Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis make guns go boom in "The Expendables 2." Their presence will make you spontaneously grow a beard. |
Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck
Norris, Dolph Lundren…these are the larger-than-life action heroes that
dominated the 1980's and the early 1990's but as audience's tastes changed and the
use of CG became more widespread, their star slowly faded. Many of the action
flicks that were popular three decades ago were rated R but as production
budgets continued to increase, the pressure on Hollywood to appeal to a
worldwide audience in order to recoup their expenses intensified, such as when
2007's "Live Free or Die Hard" was edited down to a PG-13 at the
request of 20th Century Fox, a practice that has now become commonplace. In
order to pay homage and revitalize the bloody action films of yesteryear,
Stallone co-wrote, directed, and starred in 2010's "The Expendables,"
which featured an impressive array of action veterans but nothing could compare to the moment when Stallone, Schwarzenegger,
and Willis finally appeared on-screen together for the first time. Despite grossing $274 million worldwide, "The
Expendables" received negative reviews from critics with 41% on Rotten
Tomatoes. While I may have been too harsh in hindsight with my rating of 1.5 out of 5, my opinion remains the
same: the film was a major disappointment due to its atrocious dialogue and
headache-inducing action scenes that were liable to cause brain damage. Two
years later, the geriatric mercenaries are back in "The Expendables
2" and while it delivers on more of the same, the fun factor that was
noticeably absent in the original can be found here in full force. Packed with hilariously
cheesy puns and a larger cast that includes Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van
Damme, plus expanded roles for Schwarzenegger and Willis, "The Expendables
2" is what its predecessor should've
been and will leave action junkies with an orgasmic smile on their face as they
exit the theater.
Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and his team of
mayhem-loving mercenaries known as the Expendables (Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph
Lundgren,
Terry Crews, and Randy Couture) are back in action and along with a new recruit
named Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth), they commit a daring rescue in the
jungles of Nepal involving a Chinese billionaire. The team also frees rival
mercenary Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who bemoans the fact that he'll have
to owe Barney in the future. Yin Yang returns the billionaire to Beijing while
also taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team. The rest of the
Expendables fly back to the United States on their rickety plane for some much
needed rest but their time-off comes to an end when mysterious CIA agent Mr.
Church (Bruce Willis) reminds Barney that he owes him for the mess they made in
Vilena. Church gives the team a new assignment where they are to retrieve an
item locked in a safe on a plane that was shot down over Albania. Since the
safe has a password that changes every two minutes, a tech specialist named
Maggie Chen (Yu Nan) will be accompanying the team on their mission. Landing in
the mountains of Albania, the team makes a fifteen kilometer trek to the
crash-site. Despite some difficulty, the team manages to recover the item from
the safe but a notorious arms dealer named Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme),
the leader of a ruthless cartel called the Sangs, forces them to hand it over
at or he will kill one of their members. The Expendables reluctantly comply but
Vilain viciously kills one of their own anyway using Barney's own knife before
he leaves. After mourning the loss of their comrade, Barney demands Maggie to
tell him what was in the safe and she reveals that it is a computer blueprint
of a Russian mine that contains five tons of weapons-grade plutonium left over
from the Cold War. Trapped in hostile territory, the Expendables swear
vengeance against Vilain because this time…it's personal.
"The Expendables
2" may have a laughably paper-thin plot and little in the way of character
development but it remains one heck of a wild ride, capturing all of these
larger-than-life personalities kicking ass while trading cheesy quips that poke
fun at themselves. The original "Expendables" attempted to portray
its characters as troubled individuals haunted by their past sins but only
Mickey Rourke's Tool was able to make this work in a brilliant monologue. The
rest of the film was marred by some truly god-awful dialogue. Thankfully, this
is jettisoned in the sequel, although there are still some 'dramatic' moments,
largely pertaining to Hemsworth's Billy the Kid, that come off as clunky and forced
but fortunately, they are brief. The story is written by Ken Kaufman, David
Agosto, and Richard Wenk this time around and is a lot more straight-forward,
putting the Expendables on a mission of revenge when one of their own is
ruthlessly killed during a mission that goes horribly wrong. Sure, it's generic
and offers virtually no surprises but as an excuse to throw a bunch of action
stars who are long past their prime
together, it works, more so than in its predecessor. The dialogue can get
downright terrible at times, such as a scene where the team trades food-based
racial innuendos but the surprisingly self-aware tone makes it apparent that
this film functions as low-brow entertainment and is not to be taken seriously. The cast frequently pokes fun at their senior status and make numerous
references to their previous work. Crews' Hale Caesar warns Schwarzenegger's
Trench that he is 'terminated' if he doesn't return his gun but such lines pale
in comparison to the priceless moment when Chuck Norris single-handedly takes
out a tank and a group of Sangs before recounting a hilarious anecdote where a king
cobra bit him and subsequently died after five 'painful days', a reference to
the famous 'Chuck Norris Facts' meme which have become a worldwide internet
phenomenon. During the climactic battle, Trench and Willis' Mr. Church team up
and trade a number of funny quips, with Willis remarking to Schwarzenegger that
'this time, I'll be back!' This prompts a scowling Schwarzenegger to say
'Yippee-ki-yay,' but he omits the 'motherf*cker.' These moments add to the
nostalgia factor, which was sadly missing in the original.
Of course, audiences
who are seeing the film want to know how the action stacks up and it does not
disappoint thanks to Simon West's steady camerawork, although the decision to
shoot digitally leads to night-time scenes and close-ups looking distractingly
grainy or out of focus. "The Expendables 2" opens with an elaborate
sequence that has the team blowing their enemies to bits and causing all manner
of property damage before closing in a large shootout at an airport that has
Stallone engaging in a one-on-one brawl with Van Damme, where he does his
famous roundhouse kick not once…but twice!
Statham also dons the garb of a priest before showing off his knife skills,
proclaiming to the Sangs that he now pronounces them 'man and knife.' Jet Li is
unfortunately reduced to a cameo role, exiting the film before the title card
pops up but he still leaves an impression as he takes on a number of soldiers
using nothing but pots and pans, a nice nod to his peer Jackie Chan.
If you're
wondering why I haven't mentioned the acting, it's because there isn't any
since the cast are basically playing exaggerated, superhero versions of
themselves. Jean-Claude Van Damme is surprisingly eloquent as the ridiculously
named 'Jean Vilain' and Arnold Schwarzenegger proves that he still has plenty
of charisma left even though he now qualifies for Social Security. There's also
a new female character named Maggie played by Yu Nan but her mumbled line
readings make it seem like she's disinterested, with the romance that develops
between her and Barney falling flat on its face. Finally, there's Liam
Hemsworth as sniper Billy the Kid, who is given the bulk of the drama. He
delivers a solid, if unremarkable, performance.
Released on August 17, 2012,
"The Expendables 2" has received positive reviews with 68% on Rotten
Tomatoes. Critics agreed that it gave 'classic action fans everything they can
reasonably expect from a star-studded shoot-'em-up—for better and for worse.'
Despite competition from three other
releases ("ParaNorman," "Sparkle," and "The Odd Life
of Timothy Green"), the film easily took the top spot at the box office
with $28.5 million, which was down 18% from the original two years ago. A final
domestic gross of $100 million is still reachable, although "The
Expendables 3" will have to do more other than just adding new cast
members. Embracing its bigger and bolder mentality, "The Expendables
2" delivers exactly as the previews promised with its explosive action
scenes but it also has a sense of fun that its predecessor lacked. Yes, it's
dumb and holds no real surprises but as a love letter to the action flicks of
yore, this sequel is a resounding success.
Final
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
Lee
Christmas: What's the plan?
Barney
Ross: Track 'em, find 'em, kill 'em!
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