Film Review – Expendables 2
Director: Simon West
Screenplay: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Wenk
Cast: Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, Liam Hemsworth, Terry Crews, Nan Yu, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Chuck Norris.
Genre: Action
Rating (out of 10): *******
The Expendables are back and this time it’s personal. Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Toll Road (Randy Couture) Mr Church (Bruce Willis), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger)and newbies Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth and Nan Yu team up to give us an unforgettable thrill ride.
They are enlisted by Mr Church to stop a ruthless villain by the name of Vilian, whose plan is to make billions through mining weapons grade plutonium from a mine mapped out by the CIA. The character of Vilian is played by Jean Claude Van Damme, and this time Van Damme is no saviour but is a heartless, money hungry, menacing assassin. He plays the leader of a mercenary group called ‘the Sangs’ who also call themselves Satan’s Pets, and is supported by Hector (Scott Adkins) who is his second in command. Together they enslave village men to do their dirty bio-hazardous work and recover the plutonium.
Hemsworth and Nan Yu are a nice addition to the movie but unfortunately Hemsworth’s character is killed just after a few scenes, and he becomes the motivation for the Expendables to track, hunt and kill the Sangs. The movie is action packed from the very first scene to the last. It keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, screaming ‘woooow’ at almost all the scenes. Directed by Simon West who is known for his other action packed movies such as the 90’s ‘Con Air’ and the recent ‘’The Mechanic’, lives up to his repertoire as a good director. He shows that he understands what action movies are all about, managing to give us some wild action sequences.
This sequel does not disappoint. It has maximum power, maximum fire power and maximum excitement. With a cast from the past, present and future, there is no end to the testosterone that was thrown into the movie. The presence of the stars is very nice. Not only does the movie deliver hard non-stop action, it also delivers some kick-ass punch lines that are unexpected in an action movie. A guy is shot several times and Stallone says ‘rest in pieces’; Statham dresses as a priest in one of his encounters with the Sangs and says ‘I now pronounce you man and knife’ and then stabs a man. In another scene Stallone says ‘Heads up’ as he throws Van Damme’s bloodied head in a bag at Willis and Schwarzenegger. A favourite is a conversation between Stallone and Norris where Stallone says to Norris, ‘I heard you got bitten by a cobra, and Norris responds by saying “yes I was, and after five days of excruciating pain it died”.
Stallone and Van Damme show that they still got it in their fight scenes as Van Damme delivers his signature round-house kicks and Stallone gives Van Damme a run for his money with his famous ‘Rocky Balboa’ punches. The fight is very brutal, and so are all the other scenes which give the movie its R rating. There are gun shots everywhere, chains and knives making it a bloody, very rough but indeed a kick-ass movie. I have nothing but praise for the movie. It blasts you off from the first few minutes right to the very end, and has elements of humour which gives some counterweight to the action.
It is a must-see movie for fans of these action stars. Adrenaline junkies are in for a treat as the movie completely pays homage to the action stars. With just the right amount of action to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and hearing Schwarzenegger say ‘I am back’ makes one jump up and down in happiness, because, yes most definitely ‘Arnie’ is back and Chuck Norris still remains indestructible. The movie fulfils everyone’s childhood dreams of seeing their old-time favourite action stars acting again.
Truly an awesome guys flick, you don’t just watch the Expendables2, you experience it.
