Going for the Guinness record?

Rating: 3/10 (20 December 2012)

Sly Stallone returns with the biceps-chiselled super soldiers for hire "The Expendables" for another adrenaline rush of masculine overdrive. Taking off from where they left has the who-is-who is action movies past and present turning on the ruckus and bringing the bloody noise. The mercenary grouping consists of Sylvester Stallone (as Barney Ross), Jason Statham (as Lee Christmas), Dolph Lundgren (as Gunnar Jensen), Terry Crews (as Hale Caesar), Randy Couture (Toll Road), Liam Hemsworth (as Bill the Kid) and also has a short cameo by Asian kungfu outbreak star Jet Li (Yin Yang). Meanwhile the opposing forces bring fury in the form of the Muscles from Brussels Jean Claude van Damme (as the villain Villain) and Scott Adkins (as Hector). To add to the testosterone we also get treated to extended cameos by Bruce Willis (Church), everyone's favourite governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (Trench) and the invincible Chuck Norris (as Booker). The plot connecting all these personas is entirely secondary, but for those still interested entails some wicked plan of obtaining five tonnes of weapons grade plutonium in order to sell to the highest bidder. Whereas Villain is in the picture for cosmic profit, the Expendables have a more personal plan regarding vengeance after one of their own gets killed.
After a stellar box office entry with the original the follow-up seemed inevitable. Giving back some glory back to the great action icons of the 1980s and 1990s the venture proved a welcome self-referential joyride for all involved - viewers, actors and producers alike. Nonetheless, for me personally the original pretence grew old, out-dated, as the ridiculously brash script leaves little room for character development, instead spending most time in an attempt to break the world record for most on-screen deaths (counting in at what seemed like half a century of corpses) and throwing in references to iconic movies of the past. The action itself grew tiresome as endless droves of minions get wiped out without as much as a scratch on our super-squad, while the jabs at public images of stars involved grow increasingly repetitive (as if just retreading paths already ventured) lacking therefore the witty charm of the first instalment.
Although somewhat entertaining the humour lacks the same novelty, which made the original work so well, whilst not enough focus was offered to a more brainier, less clichéd story, which would allow for the characters to flesh out and become their own. Conversely the endless carnage offered throughout starts to drag and guest appearances by Arnie or Chuck proved futile in reigniting interest in the movie.
Although Stallone no longer stands at the helm the overall control seems not to have shifted. Nonetheless the more chaotic original seemed to offer a stronger outlet for action than the somewhat cumbersome focus on CGI gore, tank sized plot holes and absolute lack of interest in character development. Further instalments are certain to follow as the franchise seems to gather steam, but the series can only go so far on self-referential sarcasm.