Nostalgia Heaven!

Rating: 10/10 (17 August 2010)

'THE EXPENDABLES': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
Legendary action superstar Sylvester Stallone stars, directs and co-writes (with Dave Callaham) this action lover's dream featuring an ensemble of most of the biggest names in the genre of the last three decades. Along with Oscar nominee Stallone there's also fellow former nominee Mickey Rourke, former Stallone co-star Dolph Lundgren (probably most well known as Ivan Drago from 'ROCKY IV'), Jason Statham and Jet Li (in their third film together), WWF and UFC champs Steve Austin and Randy Couture, former NFL and extreme sports player Terry Crews and in glorified uncredited cameos (although they're first credited in the adds and trailers) there's Stallone's former business partners (co Planet Hollywood owners) Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Some glaring omissions to the bunch are of course The Rock, Vin Diesel, Chuck Norris, Wesley Snipes (who was cast but had to turn down the part due to his tax problems and could not leave the country), Steven Seagal (who was offered a part but turned it down due to a conflict with one of the producers) and Jean-Claude Van Damme (who rejected a part because he didn't think there was enough substance to the part. Come on Van Damme, give us a break!). Had they cast all those guys it really would have been an action lovers dream feast but there's always the sequels (which one is in development right now).
Stallone plays Barney Ross the leader of a team of mercenaries who are hired to perform the most deadly and dangerous military missions the Government and other agencies have to offer, due to the fact that they're deemed 'expendable'. Statham is Barney's best friend and knife throwing expert Lee Christmas, Li is the martial arts expert of the group Ying Yang, Couture is the team's demolition expert Toll Road, Crews is a long time long-barrel expert known as Hale Ceaser and Lundgren is the team's expert sniper Gunnar Jensen. As the movie opens the team is forced to cut Gunnar loose from the team due to his battle with drugs and 'inner demons', this comes back to haunt them later on. They're then offered a job in Vilena by a man they think is a CIA front-man named Mr. Church (Willis) after another team lead by an old rival partner of Barney's named Trench (Schwarzenegger) turns it down. The mission is to over throw a South American dictator (played by David Zayas) so Ross and Christmas travel to Vilena to scout out the area and meet their rebel contact (played by Giselle Itie) who they later learn is the daughter of the General dictator. They also learn that they're also up against a ruthless former CIA operative known as James Munroe (played by Eric Roberts) and his henchman (Austin) who are in league with the general. After narrowly escaping death the team decides to give up on the mission but Barney can't forget about the young rebel who stayed behind and after receiving some advice from his longtime friend Tool (Rourke) decides that the only way to save his soul is to save her. So the team decides to continue with the seemingly suicidal mission.
The film is almost wall to wall action with some of the bloodiest and most brutal violence ever depicted on screen and one of the highest body counts of any movie period. The story is of course routine and the characters underdeveloped but those things aren't necessary to a film like this. The sole purpose of a movie like this is to give the action genre fans exactly what they want to see, good old fashioned action. At this it definitely succeeds. It's obviously a nostalgic throwback to the action films of yesterday, although it still has the stylistic camera work and fast cuts action films are famous for today.
Stallone is a great movie star, one of the best, not a great actor, although a good one, but a great iconic movie star. He is a great writer and director as well and I think he could be the next Clint Eastwood; the action films he's directed show much more skill and talent than any of the action films Eastwood ever directed. Growing up I was a big Stallone fan, I was a bigger Schwarzenegger and Willis fan, but I also loved Stallone films. Now I've come to realize that he's a better actor and filmmaker than either of the other two. He tends to play the silent and awkward outcast underdog that always beats the odds and conquers his doubters by being the real deal true hero in the end. His films are much more inspirational and relate-able to dreamers everywhere. That's why he's a better movie star than all of the other action heroes. He's made some bad films but they've all been memorable. The rest of the cast are all good and great presences themselves, it's Stallone that really brings it all together and makes it work though. He is the world's top action star and this action extravaganza is one of the great ones.
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