I Love The '80s Action Stars Part Deux!

Rating: 8/10 (8 September 2012)

THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2012) *** Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, Jet Li, Nan Yu, Scott Adkins, Charisma Carpenter. More machismo with even more '80s action relics added to the grab-bag check your IQ @ the door (and egos for the film's stars) continuation of Sly's (who co-scripted with Richard Wenk, Ken Kaufman & David Agosto) rag-tag mix of THE DIRTY DOZEN for the 21st century, this time with the motley mercenaries out for revenge/payback when a seemingly simple routine retrieval mission results in one of the team's death. Nice to have Bruce and Arnie get a bit more screen time this time (and spoiler alert: Li with lesser) but its kudos to scoring Norris as a lone wolf commando for hire bud and Van Damme (sea otter slick) as the preening villain (or Villain!) *nice* Cartoony, over-the-top with a high body count (cheesy good digital gore) and some winning/knowing asides to trademark one-liners (altogether "I'm BACK!") makes up for the dumb-as-they-come camaraderie. Guilty pleasure for the rock 'em-sock'em set and just when you think there' way-too-much testosterone on screen, Yu adds enough feminine wiles (and smarter-than-her-cohorts chops!) Directed by veteran action helmsman Simon West with just enough bonhomie brio; can't' wait for 3! :D