Just simply bad-ass!

Rating: 10/10 (13 August 2010)

What happens when you have 8 (10 if you include the two cameos) big egos in a film? How do you give them all their moment to shine? The answer is, you let Stallone write and direct a film called the Expendables. I'm not sure anyone could have done the job on this film that Stallone did. In short, this is epic film making in that it gives the audience everything it could hope for and much, much more. Every real kick ass player in this film has their moment of glory. And to my surprise, Stallone allows the big boys to shine, even at his expense. It's as if Stallone knew that although he is the star of this movie, he is not a true to life tough guy. But surrounding him are a plethora of real life tough guys. And the most brilliant thing about the film and about Stallone, is that every brute in this film has his chance to show the world their skills.
We've all seen the footage of Stallone and Austin going at it. But that isn't even the best fight in the film. There is a period in this movie where for perhaps 15 minutes, there is just non stop hand to hand combat. You have Li destroying men that seem to be twice his size. You have the incredibly charismatic Jason Statham showing off his hand to hand combat skills and one of the best scenes in the film shows Statham and Li double teaming one thug until they literally break his neck.
Terry Crews shines in the last 30 minutes as he carries a very big gun that literally blows his victims to pieces. And in a true example of Stallone showing that he has no ego, there is a scene where Stallone's character, Barney Ross, wants to throw a bomb high into the air. Then Crews comes up behind him and Ross, who is the smaller man, asks Caesar to throw the bomb, which is a bit too heavy for him. It's small details like this that make the film such an orgasmic action films delight.
You even have an epic battle between MMA and WWE legends at the end when Couture and Austin go at it mano-a-mano. And the results literally burn up the screen.
The Expendables is also shockingly funny. Stallone and Dave Callahan wrote a great script with many funny one liners and witty observations.
The best scene of course is the scene with Arnold, Bruce and Sly. In this three minute scene, you have some of the funniest stuff in the film. In it, Ross and Arnold's Trench are former Expendables team mates. In fact Trench used to be the leader of the team. But now he is a little older and a little out of shape. And Stallone milks this for all it's worth. The audience was in an orgasmic state of bliss at this point, and without ruining some of the best lines, just suffice to say that Stallone and Arnold do not miss a beat.
The Expendables is what an action film should be. It is a lot of explosions, larger than life characters, hand to hand combat, incredibly bad-ass men, humour and a frenetic pace. Even when it slows down to get to know these men a bit, guys like Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren and Statham steal the show.
This is better than Rambo, and in the pantheon of great Stallone films, this is one of the best.
9.5/10 You got a problem with that?