A Fan Service Mess

Rating: 6/10 (18 August 2012)

The Expendables never really had other higher ambitions than to assemble these action movie stars and let them do something loud and ridiculously awesome. The first film was fun but it is overall forgettable and it feels like a modern B action movie cookie-cutter. This sequel tries to recapture the old style of action filmmaking by showing a lot of non-CGI'd ravaging machines smash stuff on screen and reduce the use of shaky camera. It works better to the film, but the result is a mess. Since the action is really ought to be messy good fun, the movie itself is also a mess. But if you're careless about that then turn off your brain and watch all the heads explode.
The Expendables 2 is nothing more than a fan service. The movie has a lot of action and the stars definitely made it very entertaining. Sylvester Stallone is still as great as he is. Jason Statham is still wonderfully enchanting. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Chuck Norris are fun to watch despite of their over referenced dialogue. Disappointingly, Jean-Claude Van Damme only had few scenes but at least we get to see him fight. And Terry Crews and Dolph Lundgren are the comic relief of the film.
This sequel has no utter difference to the first one except the moderated CGI and the old school action film look. There's not much going on about the plot. All that matters here is the action, but everything was paused at the second act where the hero spends most of the time brooding. It's like a generic adventure movie where there are bunch of guys fighting, then sit down, then meet some people. Fight, meet, sit, until the climax comes.
When it hits to the climax, the movie suddenly realized that they were sleepwalking through the drama and they forgot that it is all about the loud gunfights and the explosions. So they immediately ignored Ross's brooding and let the bullets fly and the blood flow. The way they put the action scenes to the story is pretty mediocre. Much worse is the climax is too rushed, the whole slam-bang quickly cuts to random shots of the characters. It's thoroughly messy. The experience would be better if you don't care about the flaws, but it's too noticeable.
The Expendables 2 is somewhat like Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. There's no much of a plot, no good script, but the pleasure of its stars made it at least watchable. It's still not considered as a good movie. My rating may be too high for this review, but this is what we expect. Explosions, gunfights, kung fu, fistfights, and Chuck Norris. It's a fan service that mixes all the references and the action together. Still, it could have been better. The movie could have been less messy. The climax could have been less rushed. The film has potential by its production value and its stars, but the filmmakers choose to be mediocre anyway. In the end, The Expendables 2 is no relic nor classic, but just another blockbuster.