The more serious one in the series.

Rating: 7/10 (19 August 2014)

The Expendables is a wild action movie, a story about a team of mercenaries called the Expendables, led by Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), on a CIA mission to eliminate Latin dictator David Zayas (General Garza) and renegade CIA agent James Munroe (Eric Roberts).
I actually saw The Expendables 2 and 3 before I saw this one. I've found it to have the same adrenaline pumping and no-nonsense plot, mixed in with some drama and humor where needed. There are also plenty of weaponry action, highlighted with wild special/visual effects that will sure make your head spin, and martial arts galore, including those brilliantly done by Jet Li.
However, I've also found that this first movie has a more serious and darker tone than its sequels and contained more violence, which were more than I could handle at times. The plot dragged a little at a few points throughout the film, especially during the scenes with Mickey Rourke's character.
I actually thought that the series works better with the added humor in them as found in Parts 2 and 3, but, the movie is still pretty good fun and is great for seeing the many action legends from the 1980s and 1990s together (Stallone, Lundgren, Li, Willis, Scharzenegger).
Grade B-