I reluctantly went to see “The Expendables” this weekend, not sure what to expect. I had a chance to see several trailers and read a few reviews but I just wasn’t sure I would enjoy it. The trailers had given me a straight to DVD story vibe and frankly left me worried this would be a major disappointment. But the truth is I really enjoyed this movie very much. Don’t get me wrong this is not going to win any awards or be shown in acting classes but the movie does its job, it delivers the action. This film is Sylvester Stallone’s love letter to older action movies. With a cast resembling a celebrity royal rumble it harkens back to those 1980’s action movies I grew up and loved so much, with the caveat being finally to have a chance to see the action trinity Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the same room for the first time ever(even if it is for only one scene).
The plot is really secondary here and basically can be described very short and sweet. Stallone leads a team of mercenaries who are heavily outnumbered to a tropical island to overthrow a dictator who is working with former CIA members. But the fun is seeing this group of guys together in the same movie; Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Steve Austin, and Eric Roberts. The moments of camaraderie between the Expendables group especially Stallone and Statham are pleasing and there are some actual enjoyable comedic moments. The action is fast, furious, very vicious and shot well by Stallone who also does a nice job directing. After seeing Rambo and this movie you can see he really has developed an eye for shooting action. But heck he was in enough of them right? I was very pleased to see in an homage to 1980’s film making, most of the movie was shot in an old school style using real explosions and real stunts instead of CGI throughout.
Now don’t misunderstand me this is not a perfect movie. I was disappointed with how a few of the fight scenes were shot using the shaky cam which made it hard to see what was happening. Also, the few scenes they did use CGI were actually very disappointing but I imagine Stallone was working with a small budget here and hopefully if a sequel comes to fruition it can be improved. But this film is so fun and exciting, the crowd I saw it with was very interactive and you could hear the cheers resound during the numerous action scenes. So go see this movie, because I know the saying goes “They don’t make them like that anymore” really holds true to this movie. Thank you Mr. Stallone for bringing some much needed old school action to 2010 and showing the youngsters how it is done. Now, bring on number 2 and add Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Damme, The Rock, and Steven Segal to the cast and I will purchase my ticket today!
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