On DVD and Blu Ray -
(Edited, revised and reposted from August 21st, 2010 in preparation for the upcoming release of The Expendables 3)
"The Expendables" - (2010) - As far as I'm concerned, Stallone continues to deliver the goods in a late-career charge that has given us Rocky Balboa '06, Rambo '08 and this solid, albeit slightly undercooked action ensemble piece. At 64 years of age, Sly has once again put himself in excellent shape to keep up an air of believability as the leader of the Expendables, "Barney Ross". Quite refreshing to see a legitimate action star headlining a movie in a year where Adrien Brody took on a Super-Predator... C'Mon, Man!
The roles of Jet Li (Unleashed), Randy Couture and Terry Crews (Balls Of Fury) are a bit underutilized while Jason Statham's cutlery specialist, "Lee Christmas", and the awesomeness of the AA-12 Shotgun (wielded by Crews's character, "Toll Road") pretty much steal the picture. Mickey Rourke (Year Of The Dragon) makes the most out of his role as a philosophical tattoo artist, while Dolph Lundgren (Showdown In Little Tokyo), who must love playing WEIRD, supplies a brooding, drug-addicted member of the crew. Giselle Itie provides a token damsel in distress- she's pretty and isn't awful, though I wish there had been considerably more screen-time for the hotness that is Charisma Carpenter (TV's Buffy), as Christmas's girlfriend.
Eric Roberts (Heaven's Prisoners) hams it up nicely as a villainous CIA agent, while David Zayas (Showtime's Dexter) supplies a paint-by-numbers tyrannical dictator. Rounding out the rest of the bad guys is Steve Austin's hulking, menacing enforcer (a turd of his stature can't really play anything else) while British martial artist Gary Daniels's henchman isn't really given much to do until a brief, final act showdown against Li and Statham.
A couple of claustrophobic fight scenes are a bit too quickly edited for my tastes but the epic, pyrotechnics-laden, 20 minute battle in the film’s third act should please most fans of the genre. Expect elaborate gunplay, mano-y-mano confrontations, explosions galore and a host of one-liners (only about half hit their mark as legitimately funny or cool). The much anticipated scene with Sly, Arnold and Bruce occurs very early in the film and is a bit of a fizzle. If Stallone can beef up the dialogue and camaraderie between the “Expendables” in the next installment, somehow juggling screen-time and fleshing out characters a little more, we could have a great action franchise on our hands. This film is a solid start.
Future Expendables should include- Van Damme, Seagal, Snipes, Michael Jai White and The Rock.
8.0 outta 10
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Gary Daniels, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, David Zayas, Giselle Itie, Charisma Carpenter
Run-Time: 103 minutes
MPAA: Rated R for strong action and bloody violence throughout, and for some language
***UPDATE*** Fans should be sure and check out the Extended Director's Cut on Blu Ray, as it's a substantially better cut of the film- the editorial flow is superior to the Theatrical Cut.
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