Great film shame about the camera work

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2010)

The film is an A to B action movie, no surprises but an excellent film. Its fun, its action packed, lots of bullets and explosions, and no weird twists at the end. The big action scenes are amazing, but let down by the camera work. The action is fast none stop and swaps evenly between all 5 of the mercenary team. Which is refreshing and one of the things that makes this amazing. (However I can't help but feel that Jet Li was under used. Being an action star normally able to carry a whole film on his own with unbeatable martial arts, I found Li and his martial arts under played here)Although this is Stallone's film, you can't help but feel that the real star was Jason Stratham, who just steals the movie in every scene he's in. With superb acting, presence and timing he just stands out and really shines here. I really enjoyed this movie.
HOWEVER the action is really fast and instead of standing back and letting the camera take it all in (ie like the Bourne films) instead the camera man tries to follow the action which means its moving about too fast not quite in sync with the action moves and the end result is disorientating. It feels choppy, and really hard to follow and appreciate. This is a shame because the action, when you are able to follow it, has some really impressive moves. I can't help but think that had I been able to follow it, this would probably have been the best choreographed action film ever. The bits you are able to follow and appreciate certainly live up to this belief.