It will blow you away, and leave you wanting for more...

Rating: 9/10 (3 November 2012)

Right, the first "The Expendables" movie was really an action-packed treat for all of us who were young and grew up with these iconic action stars in the 80's and 90's. But strap yourself in for a second ride; a ride that surpassed the first one by a mile and a half.
The storyline in "The Expendables 2" is deeper and more thoroughly thought through than the storyline in the first movie. And the villain in this sequel was also more believable and better cast compared to the first one. It was kind of hard to take Eric Roberts seriously in the first movie, so they really upped the stakes in part two and casting Jean Claude Van Damme as the villain, which was a really nice touch to the movie.
But the storyline is of course, as to be expected, spiced up with action, adrenaline and testosterone from beginning to end. And boy does it deliver. The action sequences were nice to look at and were nicely executed. Especially the fight scene between Barney Ross (played by Sylvester Stallone) and the villain (played by Jean Claude Van Damme). That alone was well worth sitting through the movie for.
Again, as in the first movie, they put together a great list of action stars for this sequel. It was a shame that Jet Li wasn't in all of the movie, but hopefully he will be back for the third movie. A new member was added to the team, Maggie Chan (played by Nan Yu) and she actually did a great job as the only woman on this all-male-testosterone force.
And the various characters were given enough time on the screen as to not just become a background member of the group. Each contributed with something to the team and the movie. And I enjoy watching how they each use different combat techniques and weaponry. Personally, my favorite is Lee Christmas (played by Jason Statham), as he has just enough witty sarcasm and makes good use of blades to be quite interesting.
If you enjoy action movies, then you definitely have to sit down and watch "The Expendables 2". And if you enjoyed the first movie, do not cheat yourself out of the sequel, because it is just that much better! The movie isn't all seriousness though. It could be debated whether or not the attempts at comedy and jabbing at the individual action stars catch phrases from other movies is good or not. Personally, I found it to be fun and gave the movie just enough comedy and self-irony to make it that much more fun. But on the other hand, I could understand how some people would find these 'comedy jabs' somewhat silly or inappropriate. But lighten up, this is entertainment. Just disconnect your brain and sit back for one amazing action-packed ride.
Lock and load, because this is a ride well worth sitting through.