The Expendables 2 | Review
‘The Expendables 2’ is every action buff’s wet dream. The biggest action stars of the 80’s in the same film together, with some from this generation, is an exciting feat. This ensemble cast have individually starred in plenty of better and worse films. What makes a film like this work, with such a large cast of egos, is its playfulness and non-stop barrage of action. It doesn’t take itself seriously, which works to the film’s benefit.
Most of the cast from the first ‘Expendables’ return in this sequel. Sylvester Stallone is Barney Ross, the leader of the band of mercenaries, Jason Statham is knife-expert Lee Christmas, Jet Li is martial arts expert Ying Yang, Dolph Lundgren is sniper Gunner Jensen, Terry Crews is barrel-weapons specialist Hale Caesar, and Randy Couter is demolition expert Toll Road. Also returning are Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger as CIA-boss Mr. Church and Trench, Ross’ rival, respectively. With characters having names like these it’s best the film isn’t serious, even though each actor play his role straight-faced. New to the ensemble are Liam Hemsworth (‘The Hunger Games’) as former military sniper Billy the Kid, CIA-agent Maggie (Nan Yu), and last but not least, Chuck Freaking Norris as the lone wolf Booker!
While the cast is epic in proportion, the film’s plot is something left to be desired. It simply involves an evil man named Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who has his own band of mercenaries and wants to get insanely rich while destroying the world by stealing and selling plutonium. The Expendables become involved in Vilain’s affairs when he kills one of their brothers. Of course, the entire film could have ended quickly if earlier on Vilain didn’t let the entire cast live due to some convoluted message of “respect.” Why does a one-dimensional villain allow his enemies to live and only requires them to bow down to him? Oh, right, so they can eventually make a comeback and so we’ll have a movie to watch.
Each major actor in this film should have had his time to shine in the film, but unfortunately some of the talent is wasted early on in the film, like Jet Li and Liam Hemsworth. It’s a big shame Jet Li wasn’t utilized more in this film because martial arts fighting is a hundred times more entertaining than random gunfires. At least the film still stands on its feet and still entertains without this technique.
The testosterone-fueled cast have great chemistry with one another, and it’s awesome seeing each one literally destroying their enemies one by one, each in their own way. Massive brute Terry Crews mostly tosses his foes around. Statham’s knife-fighting scenes are among the standout moments of the film. And at least Nu Yan provides some of the choreographed martial arts in the void left by Li. ‘Expendables 2’ only has about two or three action set pieces, and the final fight is a mixed-bag. The big battle between The Expendables and Vilain’s men in an airport is thrilling, especially since every member of the cast appears. Seeing Chuck Norris fight alongside Schwarzenegger and Willis is a great sight. At the same time this fight’s taking place, Stallone and Vilain are having their own go at it. Unfortunately, this final confrontation between the two is underwhelming and, to simply put it, kind of boring.
‘The Expendables 2′ is not a ground-breaking for its genre, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun seeing such a great cast working together. Complete with Chuck Norris jokes, Terminator jokes, and more, it’s great when the film pokes fun at its stars. It has corny lines like “Track’em. Find’em. Kill’em,” and “You got guts. No common sense, but you got guts” that can only work when spoken by this cast. Just lean back, relax, and enjoy the absurdity.