In a Nutshell: "The Expendables" (7/10)

Rating: 7/10 (8 December 2010)

The Expendables...A humorous action flick, little better than expected!
I guess you only need to look at the poster to know what you're in for. A bunch of tough guys with tougher names who've most been able to carry major action flicks on their sole backs before. In "The Expendables" they all come together within an entertaining story about a line-up of mercenaries led by mighty Stallone, who go on a rather rough mission in Latin America; to find a little more than their common day to day action waiting for them.
Despite the long list of big guys, their contribution to the story varies greatly. While the Statham, Stallone duo eats up most of the action, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis make their mere guest appearances. You still, however, get a little bit of humor from Jet Li, some wise man talk from Mickey Rourke and some bad guy acting from Oscar nominee Eric Roberts.
In "The Expendables" two time Oscar nominee Sylvester Stallone takes his eighth shot at directing and his twenty second at writing a screenplay. Having the experience in combining both, together with acting, in titles like "Rambo" and four of the "Rocky" series, Stallone successfully employs each of his players' charismatic characters in their best fit. It reaches a point where if you try to reverse roles in your head you'd think it's impossible.
Like any action flick, you'll get the crazy gun shooting, the wild fist fighting and the anything but real moves from the guys with the big arms. If you're not planning on swallowing ideas like someone grabbing a taking off plane by his hand a hopping on it, then this is not for you. On the other hand, the film is overall quite entertaining whether you're into this kind of things or not; like Terry Crews said in an interview about the making of "The Expendables", that it is going to impress everyone that's a fan of genre and even the ones new to it.
In a nutshell, The Expendables is more than just your average action flick; it has an ensemble of Hollywood's most prominent action stars. It's got the eye candy alright and it's got a little laughing to offer as well. It is not a waste of time!