Synopsis: A group of mercenaries is hired to infiltrate a South American country and overthrow its ruthless dictator.
When you gather a blockbuster set of action stars like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews and Mickey Rourke, people are going to expect plenty of over-the-top action, explosions, fighting and chases. Well, The Expendables delivers all of those things but I think it could have delivered some better source material to go with it and actually for what my expectations were, I'd have liked to have seen a lot more action and lot less yakking it up. It tries to touch on some sensibilities but just feels corny about it really.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it and I wasn't expecting Gone With The Wind or anything. There is plenty of old school action, blood, guts, excessive violence and even some laughs. I just think it should have hit a bit harder. I expected endless cliches and it did deliver there. Jet Li's character is actually named Ying Yang. Really. Not enough? Steve Austin's is Paine. There's a Ceasar and Christmas also.
What would I have liked to have seen to improve it? I think Mickey Rourke was pretty much wasted in his role. He never gets in on the action. I'd loved to have seen much more of Charisma Carpenter, as always. MMA star Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is one of the main guards but doesn't get to do much. Dolph Lungren's performance pretty much solidified to me why he doesn't get any work any more, he was terrible. The dialog overall felt like it was pieced together from 70s action films.
So what else did I like? I loved the cameos by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. I really loved the big showdown between Sly and Steve Austin. I loved the soundtrack with some Fogerty, Georgia Satellites, Mountain and Thin Lizzy (would have liked more of this though). I loved the crazy action.
Fun movie... excessive violence... fell short my expectations but is still worth watching for some old school violent fun.
6.5/10
