Much better than the first

Rating: Null/10 (25 September 2012)

In my opinion the first Expendables film wasn't bad at all. Rather it was painfully average, which immediately tells you that something had gone wrong, because with that lineup of actors it should have been legendary. It wasn't, but fortunately it was big enough success that they made another one, and luckily Stallone stepped down from directing. Plus the writers seemed to have realized what worked and what didn't, the action was given bit of a boost and the character interactions were improved. All in all this is one of those rare sequels where the flaws of the original are acknowledged and the creative team has learned from their mistakes. We don't see these very often, so this a real gem in that regard.
That being said, this is still not as legendary as it should be. I feel like Stallone still hasn't realized that sometimes you have to go back to your roots. You have to realize just what made you great in the first place. And when it comes to these guys, it's the cheesiness. These movies take themselves too seriously in my opinion. I can realize that this is Stallone's new style, he has shown it before in movies like the latest Rambo and Rocky films, and in those films it actually works, but the whole idea behind The Expendables franchise is a bit cheesy to begin it, so why not take advantage of the fact and go all the way.
Though, in the case of The Expendables 2, they have added a bit of cheesiness. The film is much funnier, for starters. There are a lot more one-liners, the visual jokes (especially in the opening action scene) are hilarious and the characters manage to work off each other much better than before. What's more, the characters feel much more like real people this time around. They feel like a team and everyone gives solid performances. Liam Hemsworth for example is very good in his role as the newbie.
Also, Schwarzenegger and Willis. The scenes with them are some of the best this movie can offer. The one-liners, the sarcasm, the sheer badassery. Gods, I've missed these two.
On the downside there's Chuck Norris and the villain, played by Van Damme. And don't get me wrong, Norris is very good. He's very, very good. I just feel that his cameo went on a bit too long. It should have been one scene, one conversation, but then it just went on and on... Too much good stuff. And when it comes to Van Damme, he's okay in his role, but this just goes to showcase just how important a charismatic villain truly is. Van Damme's character is just a bad guy, nothing more. He was there, he was something of a threat and that's it, unfortunately.
Nevertheless, this is a good action film. There's still room for improvement and I'm really looking forward to the third part of the trilogy, but as a standalone action film this delivers beautifully. It's action-packed, it has good characters, it has a reasonably good plot, it's funny, it's fast-paced and it has all of your favourite action stars. Recommended.