What can I say. The Expendables is just what I expected. Indestructible blokes having fights and blowing shit up. Anyone disappointed by shallow plotting, credibility defying logic and one dimensional characterisation should only blame themselves for not embracing this nostalgic bullshit action movie. The story is simple. Stallone's Barney Ross and his team of (mostly) aging mercenaries take a job to topple an evil dictator on a small Gulf island. Easy. The simplistic script (essentially a Wild Bunch style western) adds a slight emotional arc for Sly, and co-star Jason Statham, and some quirks for the rest of the team but that's about it.
But frankly, that's all you need.
The Expendables has been touted as an ensemble but in reality it's more of a buddy movie. It works in layers. On the top tier you have Stallone and Statham, trading jibes and wrestling with girlfriend issues. On the next tier you have the love hate squabbling/scrapping of Lungren and Li...well matched as poor actors rather than in height. And on the bottom tier of the team Randy Couture and Terry Crews have one characteristic to define them and to separate them from random beefcakes. Not really an ensemble but a structure and dynamic that works well within the confines of the story. Eric Roberts and Steve Stone Cold Austin play slimy bad guy and henchman respectively while Micky Rourke gets the wordy emotional stuff in a couple of scenes as a retired Merc.
The infamous onscreen meeting of Arnie, Stallone and Willis is as under written as everything else in the movie and disappointingly brief. But it sure is bloody marvelous to behold. All three are playing to their strengths; Willis wisecracking and smirking, Stallone the understated underdog and Arnie awkward, lumbering and charismatic. It's such a shame it only last a few minutes.
With so little meat on it's bones The Expendables has to rely on the quality of it's action to support itself. And in this respect it doesn't disappoint. After an initial scuffle at the film's beginning there are three major set pieces spread throughout the runtime. The first, an extended hand to hand fight, car chase and aircraft sequence is the best of the bunch, being beautifully staged, paced and executed. The second, a city bound car chase followed by a frantic one-on-one is great too (although the editing is bordering on, but not succumbing to, epilepsy). And then finally you have the Rambo/Commando assault on the enemy's headquarters, with all the massive explosions, rescues, and face offs that you'd expect from that scenario.
It's not the smartest thing you'll see this year nor the slickest action movie either (The Losers is wittier and The A-Team is far bigger in scale) but it is the bone crunchingly exciting action movie that I always hoped it would be. Great banter, delivered by enduringly cool action stars...all while beating the living crap out of each other. War...it's fantastic.
1 comment:
This was a lot of fun and pretty much what I expected it to be: dumb macho bollocks that harkens back to the heyday of dumb macho bollocks - the 1980's. But it is well made dumb macho bollocks that powers along looking colourful and glossy with huge explosions and enough automatic weapons fire to slay a small army. The cast are all fine, though nobody is really trying too hard. Stallone is tough yet sensitive and world weary and Statham is cool, charismatic and tough as nails. The rest make no real impression - except for Lundgren who reminds me that he is a truly appalling actor. Still, it was cool to see Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago sharing a scene again.
There is also a peculiar, rather old fashioned and un-pc theme running throughout about how men relate to women. The film seems to think that all women are helpless victims who need saving by big, tough yet sensitive men. Hmmm...
The action for the most part works pretty well with the chase on the island and then the aerial escape being by far the best sequence. It's a real pulse pounder with some genuinely creative moments. My only real beef with the action stuff lies with the car chase back in the US and subsequent fight between Jet Li and Lundgren. It is all shot in close and far too rapidly edited. The car chase just about works (though I was getting Quantum of Solace flashbacks) but when Jet Li fights you want to see it. His fight is cut way too fast, shot far too close and is often obscured by bits of scenery. Not good.
But overall I really enjoyed The Expendables. It ain’t smart, it ain't clever but it is a lot of nostalgic fun that is shot in a glossy 80's way by Jeffrey Kimball and muscularly directed by Stallone. Bring on the sequel.
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