Still noisy, but much improved

Rating: 7/10 (20 August 2012)

The Expendables are the dream team of action heroes, but what they amount to is a fighting machine that lacks character. Or at least that was the case with the first film.
The Expendables 2 is no less noisy than its predecessor, but it shows improvement as a movie. What elevates this sequel its ability to wink at itself. It does this frequently enough to make the uncontrolled violence a bit more endurable. There is enough self-satire to the appearances of Schwarzenegger and Norris to make their presence quite worth while. The principle characters feel much less interchangeable in personality than they did in the last movie, partially because there are fewer of them. The working of a principle female character into the script is another nice touch, and I like that the movie doesn't make here a superficial bombshell in the way that other movies do.
The intended audience is going to be well satisfied, but I'm not sure how Jean Claude Van Damme's fans will take it. The problem is not that he is a villain, but rather he is a lame villain. The few lines he has are poorly scripted, and his face is somehow always in shadow, leading me to the conclusion that he did NOT need to be in this movie. Anybody else would have been well at home in that role, provided that they could tackled Stallone.
In a strange kind of way, Sylvester Stallone seems a bit more endurable in his old age. beneath his brawny facade, there is a small sense of melancholy to the guy. Maybe it's just because he is the star, but he always seems a tad bit more human than his colleagues.
In the end though, it's just entertainment. A lot of bullets/knives go flying, a lot of vehicles get flipped, a lot of one liners get delivered. It's probably a bit overwhelming for most, but it's better than the first movie.