The Expendables

The concept for The Expendables sounded much better during the early casting stages. The prospect of teaming up some of the biggest action stars in film history is a fun idea. There was the issue of multiple big names turning down roles and then being replaced by low-level actors. For example, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal and Kurt Russell all turned down roles. The part played by Terry Crews was intended for Wesley Snipes. The list goes on and on. Those big names that did appear in the film are as advertised, but some of others only have one or two lines and that is too many.

The story follows a team of mercenaries who try to overthrow a dictator to help a Latin American community. The majority of the film follows the two leaders of the team played by Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone, who also wrote and directed the film. The pair had good chemistry, and with Statham being one of the more modern actors in the group, the story developed well, with a bunch funny moments. Jet Li also receives top billing on the project but is terribly underutilized. In his few moments to shine, the script has him being continually beaten by gun toting thugs. The movie doesn’t worry about being realistic in any other aspect, so I wanted some classic Jet Li fight sequences.

Excluding the cameos from Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the rest of the group is fairly unimpressive when it comes time for any sort of acting. Some of the fight sequences are strong but not as strong as the classic action films. The Expendables is like a less muddy Rambo movie. With that being said, it does what is advertised. There’s action at every turn with different styles being represented. Stallone’s machine gun slaughter, with Statham’s British street fighting and Li’s martial arts offer a variety rarely seen on the big screen. It is an action movie at its finest, bad acting and big explosions. (8.2 out of 10)