Just not bad...(lots of muscle, very little brains)

Rating: 6/10 (19 November 2010)

The Expendables is spectacular action alongside amateurish film making. I had a professor ask once rhetorically; why if these movies can afford to invest money/time in CGI, pyrotechnics, and spectacular stunts can they not afford invest time into screen writing. What hurts the Expendables most is non-existent characterization which leads to wooden acting across the board and a plot that makes no sense.
You are probably gonna leave the theatre not remembering a single character's name. Truth be told, it doesn't matter. Stalone, Stathum, Rourke, and everyone else are essentially playing themselves. The Expendables is a high school reunion of 1980's and early 90's Hollywood heroes. One of the film's more potent traits is that it is very macho. One could say that The Expendables celebrates the human body, by exposing its full potential. Indeed given the choreography, and camera work, Ludgern might be able to take on the Hulk.
So as a summer blockbuster, what would make the Expendables any more memorable than anything else with guns and smoke. Well sure it has a dozen action stars instead of one, but what deserves some credit is the effective staging of all the fight scenes. This motion picture requires some heavy choreography to sync up a combination of gun fire at sixty different ranges, flying knives, Juno, and Kung fu. It also helps a little recognizing that The Expendables is not willing to go sissy and submit to the ratings board. A lot of blood gets spilled in the Expendables. Sometimes it happens preposterous ways, which should probably have been exploited for humour. I liked the way Stallone can take of a guy's head which a six inch blade.
To bring a dozen action heroes together is one thing, but making them shine is another. Stallone's screenplay doesn't give anyone any room to grow. Mickey Rourke gets to deliver a fairly extensive speech and Stathum gets the honour of having the movies' only sub plot (dealing with his former lover) but nobody else has any thing to work with. Indeed the Expendables, despite packing a punch remains a pretty shallow experience. The best I can say about it is that it is fun in the moment, but silly and not super memorable.