The Expendables review

Rating: 7/10 (31 December 2011)

If your looking for any type of intelligence, do not watch this film, because it will just annoy you. The film's aim is to essentially pit every action star since the 80s against each other, with cast including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Terry Crews and Mickey Rourke. Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger make very unhidden cameos, and are uncredited. Like Rambo 4, it is directed and co-written by Stallone. The story follows a bunch of super-tough mercenaries (Led by Stallone)who are hired by a powerful incorporator (Willis) to recapture an island from a military dictator (David Zayas). But Zayas has his own personal army, and is being supported by Ex-CIA Agentd (Roberts and Austin). I felt that the pace dragged in the middle, between the two major trips to the island. I also felt that the characters of the Expendables were either too prominent, e.g. Statham and Lundgren, or not prominent enough, e.g. Crews and Couture. While Stallone's directing isn't of the brilliance that some actor-directors are, he does know how to handle the pace and excitement of every action scene. Every actor does what they do best - very little talk, lots of punch, but for me the actor who stood out among the ensemble was Mickey Rourke, who takes a small supporting role as Tool, a character who simply hangs out with The other Expendables, and gives them tattoos and gives them the lowdown on missions.