Retrospective Reviews- The Expendables 2 (2012)

Rating: 6/10 (2 January 2013)

After 3 films in his 'rebooted' career', Actor/Writer/Director Sylvester Stallone reassembles with the Earth's Mightiest Anti heroes for the best worst movie of 2012... 'The Expendables 2!
PROS: To start us off, thankfully, the entire cast are back (with the exception of Jet Li) but we also get a host of new characters who just add onto the fun of the movie. The content in the film is less dark than the previous film, but it makes up for it with spectacular action and a fantastic villain named Jean Villain, played brilliantly by Jean- Claude Van Damme. The dialogue in the film is, yes, extremely cheesy, but that is exactly what to expect when you have a film featuring every 1980's action heroes! The film is mostly the team driving from one location to another, fighting people and blowing stuff up. I can't say that there's much of a story but I'll get to that later. The performances from the cast are over- the- top, except for Stallone himself, who plays the whole thing out completely serious, and so he should. We get a small bit of character development but you don't really care, you just can't wait for the characters to mention a movie they were in.
CONS: The villains goal is the most unclear goal I've ever sat through in a movie. But, the basic story is 'VILLAIN KILLS TEAM MEMBER. THEY GO TO KILL HIM.' Done.
Overall, not as emotionally gripping as the first film, but turn your brain off and enjoy!
Directed by: Simon West
Written by: Richard Wenk & Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Yu Nan, Jean- Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger