Friday 7 October 2011

The Expendables [Guest Writer] (5 Stars)


Barney Ross (Stallone) leads the "Expendables", a band of highly skilled mercenaries including knife enthusiast Lee Christmas (Jason Staham), martial arts expert Yin Yang (Jet Li), heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), demolitionist Toll Road (Randy Couture) and loose-cannon sniper Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren). When the group is commissioned by the mysterious Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) to assassinate the merciless dictator of a small South American island (David Zayas - most noteable for his role in Dexter), Barney and Lee head to the remote locale to scout out their opposition. Once there, they meet with local rebel Sandra (Giselle Itie) and discover the true nature of the conflict engulfing the city. When they escape the island and Sandra stays behind, Ross must choose to either walk away and save his own life - or attempt a suicidal rescue mission that might just save his soul.

This movie is an action-movie fan's wet dream with all the veteran talented actors that make this movie what it is.The story is a bit cliched and it does remind me of other movies such as "Losers" or "The A-Team" and whatnot - the ragtag team of misfit mercenary cowboys that like to play by their own rules and are good at what they do. I almost think that this wasn't meant to be taken as seriously as other films out there that try to make it seem like it's the new big thing. Why do I think this you ask? Some of the actors made sense and others seemed more like a joke with it's ironic cameos and dialogue.

My favorite actor in this movie is, of course, Sylvester Stallone. People make fun of his voice and the way he talks or lack of eloquence but in this type of movie that is pretty unnecessary because he plays his role to a Tee. He just seemed to fit and did it so effortlessly that I had no trouble in believing his characterization. Bruce Willis and Arnold the Terminator (that's how I refer to him. Hehe) seemed more like it was meant to be a parody and they just wanted to squeeze as many well known action stars in this movie as possible even if it meant handing out short roles. I did love the by-play in the scene with Willis, Stallone and Arnold because I did get a chuckle or two out of it.

The other actors such as Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Eric Roberts, and Mickey Rourke, kind of rounded out the action stars in this movie in my opinion and some of them contributed well and others seemed more like just extras that were added on for some window dressing. The only lives that we got a glimpse of was Jason Statham for the most part with his stuttering relationship with his girlfriend (seriously does he always have to have a girl??). I liked his character probably because I loved the fact that he was the "knife-guy" of the film and honestly it made me just a little bit excited and had the urge to fall in love with him a little bit. I know it sounds weird but coming from a gal that got her first dagger at 11 years old and then her first switch blade at 13 years old that was a high point of the movie for me. I did mention I was a simple gal. Heh.

We got to see a love-hate relationship between Dolph and Li where their relationship goes from friend, to enemy and back to friend again. I have to be honest and say that while some thought Dolph's character seemed like it was nothing new from his previous roles - a crazed man with sadistic tendencies that seem to live his life exclusively by the law of the "jungle" or "war". I kind of saw it coming in terms of what happened to him in the movie although the ending was different than I had originally expected. I can sympathize with his character even if I do think he tends to go a bit over the top with his acting and sometimes makes it a little bit unrealistic for me. But, as I said, I can sympathize with a character like that- one that has lived his life doing all sorts of unmentionable acts for the sake of country or to stay alive and when left unchecked can go on a rampage. Who hasn't felt like they wished they can go on a rampage every now and again?

The movie is like one testosterone driven tank that's about to run everyone over if you don't move out of the way fast enough. Besides the actors you know they have to live up to their reputation with the high impact action scenes with karate, knives, shoot-outs, wrestling and street fighting with large scale explosions and special effects. I think what I liked most about all of that was that it wasn't CGI and seemed a lot more real compared to movies that are happening now. I could practically feel every impact and punch from the characters. It was really exciting. Among my list of action movies this will at least make it to my Top 15 if not my Top 10. I may have to make an actual list to make it official. Hehe. 

2 comments:

  1. About to check out the third film. These are OK reunion films with none too strong plots, but I check my brain at the cinema door and just enjoy them on a superficial level.

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    1. I never watched the Expendables or any of its sequels. I have the same aversion to the concept as you. It's like the old Universal Horror films when they threw all the monsters into one film just to make a killing at the box office. A film with a similar though not identical concept is "RED", which adequately succeeds in what it sets out to do.

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