The Expendables (2010) Reviews

• Sex and the city,.... for men!

  iemand-anders12010-08-16

  I laugh at many of the hate comments as what the hell did they expect? a romantic comedy? award winning performances? deep dialogues? Freudian complex character study? common give me a break!!! from the start you should know this is all about guns,explosives and one liners from start to finish and homage to silly 80's and 90's action flicks. and this is simply exactly what you get!! while i will never understand what most woman think so great about sex and the city( fashion? shoes? what the hell?) so this is for men/boys who will be thrilled to see their old heroes from back in the days once more on screen kicking everybody's ass! (and no, i can appreciate intellectual and deep movies, but it often simply comes down with having the right expectations)

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• Too much testosterone!

  TheCinemassacre2010-08-13

  Tough guys. Always going on suicidal missions. Threatened by bullets and blades. Running from explosions. Best friends waging wars. Nearly killing each other, then going to the bar later to laugh about it. Director and star, Sylvester Stallone, gets all his best men together to kick as much ass as humanly possible, allowing himself a severe beating from Steve Austin. Sly took a serious neck injury. Then he goes in front of a Comic Con audience and jokes about it. A man whose Double-"R" franchises, Rocky and Rambo have both been highly successful. But he keeps coming back for more pain and putting his body on the line for the sake of entertainment. There's nothing tougher than that! The Expendables is a movie that lifts you up out of your seat, pats you on the head, gives you a lollipop then smashes you in the frickin' face! With a cast like Jason Stathum, Randy Couture, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Terry Crews, Dolph "I Must Break You" Lundgren, and cameos from Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, you'd think it would be one crazy mess. Surprisingly, it's more focused then you may think. Just a straight-forward action movie with a reasonable run time that sustains itself and never has a chance to feel dull. It doesn't try to be anything more than what it is. The only negative: Some of the blood and explosions looked digital. Wish it could have been just a bit more authentic. Sometimes, there was a tad too many closeups during the fight scenes. With so many people fighting at the same time, sometimes I couldn't tell who was punching who. It didn't happen very often, but how cool would it be just for one moment to see three simultaneous fights from a super wide master shot? Never, but I can't blame them. At least let the cameras pull back and allow the choreography to do the work. It feels nice to get my ass kicked by something I haven't seen yet. It's not Rambo. It's not Rocky. Nor is it another Die Hard or Terminator sequel. It's something fresh, yet feels like it came out of the 80's. It has the perfect blend of humor, blood, sweat, smart-ass comebacks, witty one-liners, and an overabundance of testosterone! Don't expect anything more than action, exposition, action, exposition, all with a nice cherry on top… with sprinkles… and grenades. And some real tough guys. We all wish we could be tough guys. But no, let's just watch'em instead.

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• Bad, and not bad in a good way, just bad.

  andrew-don2010-08-15

  Straight up, I am the biggest fan of the 80s action films ever. I loved Commando, Predator, Rambo, Rocky, Die Hard, Kickboxer etc etc etc. What have they done? This film had all the potential to be huge, but they killed it with terrible writing. I can handle plot holes, in fact a movie like this almost needs them. But there is no excuse for such poor dialogue. Where are the cool lines? I expected to come out quoting a whole heap of new one liners, instead we get stupid jokes about 'wanting to be president'. The scene with Bruce Willis, Sly and Arnie should have been awesome, instead it felt like there was some in-joke between them that we didn't know about. It was like being at a party listening to 3 people you don't know talking about something you don't understand! Dolph Lundgren was the best part of the film, and they didn't give him enough to do. Why is this man not starring in A grade blockbusters? The big rapid fire shotgun offered some humorous moments, though I don't know if this was deliberate or not. Considering this was supposed to be about the action, it was very poorly shot. Ever since Gladiator it seems directors are intent on making us feel part of the fight. Screw that, I don't want to be in it, I want to see what's happening. Why bother having Jet Li, Randy Cotour and Stone Cold in a film if all you can see of them is arms and legs flailing at close range? Watch any old Jackie Chan flick, or even the old Stallone and Schwarzeneggar movies, the action shots are wide enough that you can actually see what they are doing. Very disappointing

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• Big action balls!!!

  Mash-the-stampede2010-09-14

  So I guess with any film review - it's all about the answers to the important questions. So let's get them out of the way first shall we? Q) Is the plot descent, with a substantial storyline including dramatic arcs, twists and/or turns? A) Not particularly. Q) Are there character arcs and meaningful character developments? A) A little. Q) Is there romance? A) Next question, please. Q) Is the overall film original? A) Not at all. Q) Is it a likely Oscar nomination contender? A) Hell no! Q) Is it still awesome? A) HELL YES!!!!! Critics should be banned from reviewing films such as these. Anyone with half a brain can tell exactly what kind of film this is and what they're in for purely by the film's trailer alone. This is a film made for action movie fans and not just regular action movies - I mean REAL action films in the style of the classic 80's action movies where plot and substantial character developments and dialogue took a backseat to intense over-the-top violence, explosions, car chases, sex scenes and catchy, memorable one liners! The 80's action hero (and villain) breed was a rare phenomenon which will likely die with those very actors who gave them life. No 90's or new millennium "action" movie star will ever come close to being anywhere near as genuinely tough and just plain bad-arse as their 80's predecessor's! Even now with the main 'Expendables' cast pushing 60 +, you know that they would snap Matt Damon's spine in 2 with one hand tied behind their backs! The 'Expendables' cast consists of Sly Stallone as the fearless leader of the team, Jason (Basketball stabber) Statham as the trusty knife-throwing sidekick, Dolph Lundgren as the treacherous giant one, Jet-Li as the small one, Terry Chews as Wesley Snipes, Mickey Rourke as the tattoo/previous knife-throwing sidekick and Randy Couter as the "who the hell is this guy, oh he's a UFC fighter" guy. I still can't believe the unbelievable shape these guys are in! They're giants (exception for Jet-li of course). Still, despite it's 80's throw-back appeal - the film isn't all action. Believe it or not there are slow parts. Mostly unnecessary filler between the action scenes. However the third act of the film makes up for the lack of action and then some! It's when this third act commences when the true action film we've been waiting to see kicks in and steps up several notches to become the manliest most testosterone-fueled film since the last 'Rambo'! It's funny, it's loud, it's un-relentlessly violent, an action-packed no-brainer of a film! An 80's action movie fan's wet-dream!!! Bring on the sequel/s and bring on Jean-Claude Van Damme so he can give Statham the butt-kicking he so desperately deserves!!!

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• They don't get much more explosive than this!

  yellowbuket1012010-08-04

  The expectation for this film is obviously very high with one of the best action hero line ups (if not the best) in cinematic history. So I went into this film with a little trepidation and a lot of anticipation. I can honestly say that I was not disappointed. This was a high octane, unbelievably explosive, funny, blood thirsty, proper action movie! This film would not have been out of place in the 80s, but manages to fit into the market of today's cinematic action experience. It is easily much more graphic and gory than most modern day action films, but this adds to the film and creates a degree of realism. Let's face it; if you go around killing people it isn't going to be pretty! This film did what it needed to do, it wasn't afraid to contain blood, guts and violence for the sake of an age restriction but also wasn't overly ridiculous. After all most of the people who will watch this film grew up watching the classic action films of the 80s and 90s and are old enough for a bit of gore. The plot is not that original, but it doesn't need to be, nor was it expected to be. The cast, goes without saying, was fantastic. What could have been a disaster of conflicting egos ended up being a believable team of mercenaries where banter is rife and keeping each other alive is their number one priority. Stallone can give himself a big pat on the back for getting so many iconic actors onto the screen together and actually making it work. Though the much hyped cameo of two particular people was short lived, it was hilarious and I think a great moment in cinema. This was a great film that keeps you glued to your seat, constantly makes you gasp and laugh out loud and leaves you pumping with adrenaline. It was ridiculous and wonderful all at the same time, with more bullets and bombs than Rambo and more fighting than Rocky. This is a must see film for any movie buff or action hero wannabe. It is certainly not for the faint hearted, or for kids, but for any true action movie lover this is the ultimate manly film. Sylvester Stallone, NICE JOB!

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