Solid escapism

Rating: 7/10 (16 June 2011)

The Expendables is a bad-ass movie. It's a real throwback to the mindless action movies of the 1980s, and as an added flourish it even brings back some of the stars of those cheesefests. It's certainly not plot heavy, but it delivers what it promises – nonstop action, easily identifiable bad guys, and the occasional bon mot or two.
Sylvester Stallone plays Barney Ross, leader of a team of mercenaries. Ross is hired by the mysterious Mr. Church (note: not his real name) to travel to a remote island and overthrow a dictator. But, naturally, things aren't quite as they seem, although plenty of stuff blows up. Later, to redeem his soul, Ross returns to the island to set things aright, and more stuff blows up.
Ross's team includes knife man Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), martial artist Yin Yang (Jet Li), weapons expert Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), demolitionist Toll Road (Randy Coutre), and sniper Gunner (Dolph Lundgren). Church is played by an uncredited Bruce Willis, and that's not a spoiler, since he featured in the trailer. Also in the trailer, showing up for one scene, is Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Thankfully, we're spared some real cheese, such as an "I'm getting too old for this" line or other references to the ages of some of the cast. Also along for the ride is Mickey Rourke as the owner of a tattoo parlor/bar, Eric Roberts and Stone Cold Steve Austin as bad guys. All are good at what they do, and truth be told Rourke brings plenty of effortless charisma to his minor role. This is not a movie that's miscast, and it's not a buyer's-remorse movie, either. You get what you expect to get when you mix these actors and this plot.
The movie's not heavy on plot. I've already touched on the high points, but really you could pop in at any moment during the film and pick up the storyline in no time. It's not Memento, for crying out loud. It's violent, very bloody, and terrifically well choreographed. The filmmakers wisely shot some of the more intense fight scenes in the dark, the better to mask the perhaps-not-awesome fighting abilities of some of the actors. But even though the action never lets up, it's not impossible to follow, and neither is it implausible. Okay, maybe a little disbelief must be suspended, but for the most part it's all reasonable.
I enjoyed it. The Expendables proved to me that solid action movies that don't depend on a name brand can survive, as this one did rather well financially – well enough that a sequel is planned. It's not a disappointing movie if you like explosions and other manly pursuits. There are car chases, hot women, plenty of guns, exotic locales, and some plot. What more could you want?