Sunday, August 15, 2010

The Expendables (2010)

Starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lungren, and Arnold Schwarzenegger

Directed by Sylvester Stallone

Release Date: August 13, 2010

Not a perfect movie, but a fun and enjoyable action movie. The cast has goon chemistry together, have some great action sequences, and Mickey Rourke gives a pretty good monologue about a previous mission as a mercenary with The Expendables. Plus, there's a hilarious scene with Arnold Schwarzenneger, Bruce Willis, and Sylvester Stallone. Sure, the movie is pretty much your standard 1980's action movie, but director/co-writer/star Stallone is aware of that and revels in the cheezy dialogue and over-the-top action. My two major gripes would be: 1) Stop using close-ups and shaky cam footage when filming action sequences. Note to directors: We the audience are tired of this trick as it makes the fight scenes confusing to watch and hard to truly enjoy, so knock it off. 2) More of the group together would have been awesome; it reminds one of Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, where we only follow 2-3 characters when what the audience truly wants to see more of is the group as a whole.

The Expendables is a fun, goofy action movie with flaws, but still an entertaining experience.

Rating: * * * 1/2 of 5

Click here to buy The Expendables The Expendables (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)