Stallone the director took the day off on this one

Rating: 6/10 (4 December 2010)

I expected a little more from this movie considering that Stallone's last 2 movies were great. Rocky Balboa and Rambo had lots of action but also had heart. I guess because they were such iconic characters that he is identified with and he made those movies with passion. This movie had lots and lots of action and I loved it. But nothing else. Sure all the meatheads from the 80s were there but it was really Stallone and Statham in most of the scenes. I just wish there was little more meat in the story. Every scene was an action movie cliché.. good guys never miss and the bad guys can't shoot straight even though our hero only has a knife. The women are just props. The scene with Bruce Willis and Arnold was just a waste and probably the worst scene in the movie put together simply as a gimmick to get the big 3 in the same scene. Stallone could have explored the CIA drug smuggling connection a little more seriously. Also Jet Li hardly had anything to do. They could have dropped Terry Crews or Randy Couture and given Jet Li the big gun. Think about it, Terry Crews is the crazy guy from the Old spice commercial not a big action star and is nowhere close to the stature of Jet Li or the other stars. Jet Li did have some funny lines though. Having said all that , the action was fantastic. My favorite was Jason Statham on the nose of the airplane firing those guns to destroy the pier and also the fight scene in the tunnel under the palace. If there's anything I would like in the sequel is a stronger storyline and same amount of action.