An action fans dream. Surpasses the original in every way.

Rating: 10/10 (19 August 2012)

First off, I grew up watching Stallone, Van Damme, Schwarzenegger, Willis, Lundgren, etc. For the people who did not and disliked this movie and the first one, I understand. But for any die hard action movie fan of the late 80's and early 90's, this film is it. The one we always wanted. The one that answers most of our what if's when it comes to this genre. The first Expendables was a mean, fun little beast of a film. I applaud Stallone for what he did with it. But no matter how many times I watched it, I always felt more could have been done and this time, more was. Stallone handed directing duties over to Simon West and from the first frame you can tell this film is more polished. The action is amped up, the effects are of higher quality, the humor is timed better. Its all quite an improvement over the first. The film revolves around Sly (he did after all write the script). Willis and Schwarzenegger both have bigger roles this time around (loved the cameos in the first, but felt like it was all just a big tease). Statham plays right hand man to Stallone again while the rest of the crew do exactly what they did in the first with the addition of 2 newcomers (Hemsworth and Yu) and a solid, hilarious extended cameo from Chuck Norris. Statham is always a pleasure to watch, his action scenes are always explosive and he does not disappoint this time around but I especially enjoyed Lundgren and his character. He was funny, literally, not unintentionally and you can clearly tell that he is relishing this opportunity. Stallone gave all of these guys very little at the core as far as character, but I believe that was the point. We want to see them as who they are and who we love them for being and Sly knows that. That might even be why in the first one, Mickey Rourke's (who is absent from the sequel) emotional scenes seemed so out of place. They were phenomenal and truly moving and in reality, had no place in a movie like The Expendables. But since we are speaking of character, the best performance in this film by far belongs to Jean-Claude Van Damme. Its obvious to anyone familiar with his early work that his acting his improved tremendously and he uses this film to showcase that. His character is ruthless and evil in a fun way. He literally demands your attention when he is on the screen and the final fight between him and Stallone is almost perfect (wish it lasted a little longer, but not complaining). The first 30 seconds of the fight had me immediately smiling thinking to myself, am I really watching Rocky Balboa and Kickboxer go at it right now? It was just great. And Stallone, Van Damme and everyone else involved knew that many moments in the film would have you smiling, thinking exactly that to yourself. Are you really seeing this? Yes, you are. A bunch of broken egos finally came together to please the audiences that have dished out millions to continuously see them punch, kick and shoot their way through films. They all shoot high this time. And they hit the mark. 10/10. Not based on if it will an Oscar or not, but based on the tremendous amount of fun that I had with this film. Go See it.