A big improvement over the first film (not difficult, I know).

Rating: 7/10 (31 August 2014)

A team of highly trained mercenaries, led by grizzled battle veteran Barney Ross (Sly Stallone), are tasked with retrieving a computer that details the location of a stockpile of Russian weapons-grade plutonium. Their mission is a failure however when The Sangs, an army of brutal killers (boo hiss!), led by the sadistic Villain (ah, why not go the whole hog and just call him Villain?), snatches their prize, killing The Expendables youngest member, Billy (Liam Hemsworth), in the process. Mightily upset, Barney and pals go looking to settle the score
The first Expendables movie was a bloody mess, thanks to a weak plot and Sly Stallone's excessive use of scrappy CGI, digital blood effects, and grainy shaky cam, a technique that made every action scene impossible to follow; when you make a Jet Li fight scene look unimpressive, then you've got problems. The iffy CGI and digital gore is still present in Expendables 2, but this time around it's Simon West (Con Air) behind the camera, and although he's never been nominated for an Oscar, he does a much better job than Sly at delivering the action-packed goods. The level of enjoyment to be had is so much higher when you can actually tell what is happening.
For maximum satisfaction, ignore the moral dilemma of both The Expendables and The Sangs essentially being cut from the same cloth, both sides being bloodthirsty killers for hire, happily blasting their way through countless adversaries in order to line their own pockets—just settle back and admire the excessive cartoonish chaos. It's all very silly at times, of course, and not what you could ever describe as genuinely thrilling, but there's so much outrageous violence on offer that any self-respecting action movie fan should be more than happy, especially with Arnie, Bruce and even Chuck finally getting in on the explosive action as well.
6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.