A Love Letter to the Action Genre

Rating: 10/10 (27 April 2020)

This is the OG The Avengers (2012). Marvel can suck it.
This movie gets way too much hate. I guess it's hard to appreciate a great creative vision. This is an action movie, for action movie fans.
Of course the cast is gonna be great. Sly Stallone is as good as ever, and still a charismatic leading man even if he's obviously older. Jet Li and Jason Statham were great inclusions, and both demonstrate some of their better acting abilities, as well as their martial arts. Dolph Lundgren is great too, playing himself, as you'd expect. In fact, everyone in this movie are playing themselves. Randy Couture wasn't given a ton of screen time, but had some great moments, including a great fight with Steve Austin, who was the perfect henchman. Terry Crews also should've been given more screen time, but he's great. Arnold and Bruce Willis are here in one smile-inducing scene, and both make you happy watching them together. Probably the strangest cast member here is Mickey Rourke, who is an action star, sure, but he doesn't participate in any of the action. Instead, he's given a great monologue where he actually acts well.
Sly's direction is good, and while there were some fast cuts at times, most of the action is visible and visceral. He of course knows how to action scenes, which makes sense since he's one of the biggest action stars ever.
The story is alright, typical action flick stuff, but who is here for story. We're here for the action, which I thought was stupidly fun. The opening boat scene, that fight with Sly, Statham, and a bunch of bad guys by a truck, the plane/docks scene, the car chase and garage fight scene, the basketball court fight scene, and the massive final battle. The final sequence is very flashy and entertaining, and there are also a lot of great fight scenes. Jet Li and Dolph Lundgren fight each other twice, Sly fights Steve Austin, Li and Statham fight Gary Daniels, and Randy Couture fights Steve Austin. The violence is brutal and bloody, and suitably vicious for this kind of movie.
I can proudly recommend this to action fans, especially fans of the actors. It's full of action, gritty violence, good one-liners, and nostalgia.