Not as good as the first , but still mandatory viewing for action fans

Rating: 6/10 (27 August 2012)

As a movie I like the first one better . However, I am a huge fan of 1980's action movies and with the combined cast of Ex2 I own about 100 movies in my personal collection . The positive aspects of Ex2 is the expanded roles for Arnold and Willis, the Chuck Norris cameo, plus JCVD as a villain and Scott Adkins as the heavy. Van Damme's performance was so good , it is my favorite aspect of the film. Also, having everyone here in the same film is an action fan's wet dream. What I didn't like was the tone. The first film was darker and if there was anymore comedy , this tough as nails franchise turns into a slapstick comedy . In action movies a lot of this stuff is tongue in cheek , here it is a touch much. Yes, there are bigger action scenes. But there was better action in Ex1 and some of the action here is downright stupid. Not to mention the lack of Jet Li and turning Gunnar,the loose cannon psychopath into a circus clown . Having said that I still like the movie and urge all fans of action to go see it.