Enjoyable old school action flick.

Rating: 6/10 (10 November 2012)

The Expendables 2 starts as ace sniper Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) tells his boss Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) that he wants to leave the Expendables, a team of tough mercenaries who are for hire & take on dangerous jobs that need lots of firepower. Ross accepts his decision, however later that night the sinister CIA man Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) orders Ross & his team of expendables to carry out one last job for him, since Church can have them all jailed for life or killed Ross has little alternative but to agree. A plane has crashed with some extremely important cargo locked in a safe on-board, it's up to Ross & the expendables to find, retrieve & deliver the cargo back to him before it falls into the wrong hands. The mission at first seems easy & all goes well but after finding the cargo Ross & the expendables are ambushed by the sadistic Villain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) & his men who steal the precious cargo & kill Billy the Kid leaving Ross & the rest of the expendables swearing vengeance...
Directed by Simon West who I guess was a decent enough choice after turning in enjoyable enough big budget fare like Lare Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) & the excellent Con Air (1997) which still remains one of my personal favourite OTT action films (Nicolas Cage should be in The Expendables 3... while we're at it how about Wesley Snipes & Kurt Russell too) this is a direct sequel to the highly enjoyable old school action film The Expendables (2010) & while I didn't think it was quite as good The Expendables 2 is still a lot of fun & thankfully doesn't abandon it's violent action film roots. The first twenty odd minutes & the last twenty odd minutes are brilliant, action packed, funny & highly entertaining & it's a slight shame that the intervening hour is a little dull & empty. The major problem with The Expendables 2 is the lack of a substantial story, there's very little here & what is here is merely there to hang the action set-pieces off. It's hard to think about the character's as individuals rather than the actor's that play them which is also maybe doesn't help, that's the one great negative though & the killing of Billy the Kid & the revenge mission that ensues takes a backseat to the action, the egos & the one-liners so be prepared for that. The script is nicely nostalgic, it gives the main cast plenty of opportunity to throw in several gags & references to their earlier films & well known one-liners in an amusing & playful way but never in a derogatory mocking sense. At about 100 minutes long The Expendables 2 doesn't outstay it's welcome & your never far from the fight, shoot-out, one-liner or explosion.
The likes of Bruce Willis & Arnold Schwarzenegger get much bigger roles this time around although Jet Li is only there for the opening fifteen minutes, I suppose we should be grateful a compromise was struck & he came back at all as he has said he wants to quit Hollywood. New action film star additions to the cast include the legendary Chuck Norris who seems very game to live up to his reputation (the Cobra gag is hilarious) while Jean-Claude Van Damme is still in very good shape unlike a few of the other's as age catches up with them but to be fair the fact they are all in such good shape at their age says a lot. Jason Statham is great values as always, his sole fight scene in a Chapel is fantastic as are all the action scenes, West manages to bring scale & excitement to things while never confusing matters with shaky hand-held camcorder crap & quick editing. This is the way action scenes should be shot, loud, violent & great fun, the hilarious scene with Schwarzenegger & Willis in the little car is worth watching the film for on it's own. 80's & 90's action fans starved of that type of film over recent years should definitely get a kick out of it.
With a supposed budget of about $100,000,000 The Expendables 2 has great action scenes & plenty of star power, during the 80's & 90's who would have thought all the top action film stars of the day would team up? Filmed in China & the US but mainly in Bulgaria. I liked the performances here, everyone seems to be having fun although I wasn't impressed with new female team member Nan Yu who has little to do & gets lost amongst the egos.
The Expendables 2 is a great old school action film, full of violence, gun fights, explosions & senseless death & destruction. What more do you want? Apart from a story that is. 80's & 90's action fans should lap it up, I did. Apparently The Expendables 3 is already in production.