The Expendables
This should’ve been the action movie to end all action movies. A throwback to those ’80s actioners that put together all manner of machomen with a plot that didn’t hold up to close scrutiny, but still delivered the goods. The cast is good enough. The idea is good enough. And with well-received returns to his most iconic characters, writer-director Sylvester Stallone seems to have found his filmmaking second wind after over a decade of disappointment.
Sadly, “The Expendables” still plays better as a trailer than as a movie. The story is too thin for such macho firepower, the dialogue can be a bit too indecipherable coming out of these mouths, and well, actually those are my biggest complaints. True, 103 minutes seems long enough for such a film, but I wanted more time with the core group. Not that I would’ve been able to understand what they were saying, but still.
Stallone leads the group as Barney Ross, who heads a team of mercenaries sent into major hot spots no one else can handle. As the film opens, we see him and his crew taking out Somali pirates who have taken businessmen hostage. It’s a blood-boiling way to open an action movie, with some intrigue as well when Gunner (Dolph Lundgren) goes off the deep end, and Ying Yang (Jet Li) is forced to step in. But when Gunner gets the best of him, Barney has no choice but to kick him off the squad.
From there, Stallone and co-writer Dave Callaham spin a tale of political unrest in a Latin American republic that involves a corrupt general (David Zayas) and an even more corrupt CIA agent (Eric Roberts), and tries to let us in on the lives of these characters. Sadly, none of it really grabs hold in the way these guys would like. It’s all cliche and limited depth, save for a quiet moment between Barney and Mickey Rourke’s ex-merc Tool that isn’t enough to make you really care or surprised by how the film ends up. Same with the women in the cast- it’s great to see Whedon vet Charisma Carpenter as Jason Statham’s potential girlfriend, and Giselle Itie as the general’s daughter is a beauty and interesting character in possibilities, but other than making philosophical statements about violence against women with their presence, not much comes from either character.
If you’ve seen the trailers, or posters, or anything about the movie, you know this cast is stacked. Besides those mentioned above, there’s UFC’s Randy Couture, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, for NFL player Terry Crews, and a scene with Stallone and his Planet Hollywood co-owners Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger that feels anticlimactic when all’s said and done (with only one line that is remotely entertaining).
That’s actually a great word for this movie in all honesty- anticlimactic. When it comes to action, Stallone is one of the best in town, as every major action scene has its’ highlights, whether it’s an all-out drag-out between characters (Jet Li steals the film in these moments) or a massive L.A. car chase that feels more realistic than most others- or just some really bloody ultraviolence (which Stallone also punctuated 2008’s “Rambo” with) that occurs when you had people like this a weapon and a motivation to use it. That said, he should know as well as anyone that such action is pointless without a story (or characters) around to carry it. And except for himself, Statham, and Li, Stallone is lacking in both when all is said and done. That alone is a letdown considering his recent success in making me care about Rocky and Rambo…
