Violent!

Rating: 8/10 (24 August 2010)

I'm going to agree with Stallone when he told Jean-Claude Van Damme that this movie is violent. Smack Shoot Em' Up and Sin City's violence together and throw in a wacky storyline of save-the-girl campaign and you got The Expendables.
I've never seen such a violent action film. You watch a movie like Salt or Knight and Day and you think, "awesome action packed movie." Not the case here. The Expendables has substance in the plot, and the action is off the charts...but quite honestly horrific in some aspects. Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) is a knife expert and he doesn't just kill people by stabbing them. When Christmas kills, he throws the knife into their neck and the blood gushes out and flows like a canal.
Barney Ross (Stallone) has a violent streak too, sometimes he uses knives and it's grotesque. Sometimes he uses shotguns or his fists and pulverizes his opponents' face into nothingness. Or perhaps, he'll blow the dude's head off. It's extremely violent to say the least.
I'm not complaining in any way, but perhaps people who are used to the kind of action similar to Mission Impossible, Bourne Identity, and the like, will find this movie's action to be a little too much gore. If you have a weak stomach and you don't like the Saw films gory stuff, I'd suggest stay away from The Expendables.
I was quite disappointed that Schwarzenegger and Willis were only given approximately four minutes of screen time. I was hoping to see them in action, but I guess those days are gone, especially with Arnold being governor.
As a plot, the movie has barely anything. It has enough to get the movie started and the action rolling and keep coming. However, basically the first fifteen minutes of the movie set the tone for how the movie will play out. Basically, you get twenty minutes of drama and story and an hour and twenty minutes of action.
Special effects aren't bad either and it's quite an awesome flick if you can get passed the gore. All the characters are cool and all have a nice back story and development.
I would recommend this to anyone who can sit through an insurmountable amounts of gore. If you can't, then you probably won't like this movie very much. I cannot wait for The Expendables II. Should be just as great.