As Tired and Worn Out as its Star/Director

Rating: 4/10 (26 November 2010)

The only reason I'm giving this a 4 is because, unlike the turgid RED, this old-guys-back-in-the-saddle tale is somewhat enlivened by the chemistry between the "actors." But, for the most part, everyone's worn out and tired, including a plot that wouldn't have been believable in the 80s and is even less so today. An island in the Gulf of Mexico has been taken over by drug lords and a rouge CIA agent and the US government doesn't go in with guns blazing? Grenada, anyone? There's a bit of fun in seeing some of the old guys kick butt, but character and plot development are lost amid the mind-numbing explosions and endless gun battles. A Swede (Dolf Lundgren), a Chinese (Jet Li), a Brit (Statham) are on the same team as Stallone and other Americans, but there's no explanation of how this motley United Nations black-ops crew came into being. Of the "stars," only Stallone and Statham have the opportunity to generate any chemistry, but we learn next to nothing about them. Statham is, in fact, the standout in this film. He, along with Jet Li, is far from over-the-hill and brings a certain contemporary street cred to this otherwise mediocre film.