Action porn for the explosion seeking

Rating: 4/10 (29 August 2010)

Stallone. Statham. Li. Rourke. Lundgren. Couture. Austin. Crews. With a cast lineup like this what could you possibly expect other than ridiculously testosterone fueled action. The answer is absolutely nothing more. And that is what you get from The Expendables. Sylvester Stallone himself directs this flick in which he leads a group of slightly more than able bodied mercenaries on dangerous missions in Central America. The team of hulking beasts shoot first and ask questions later. They don't take anybodies crap and certainly don't care whether they live or die, as long as they get to blow everything up. It's a 12 year old child's action explosion fantasy. Expect nothing more.
The film kicks off with these mercenaries on a hostage rescue mission where they brutally shoot up everything and make sure nobody has a less than ecstatic death. The relationships between these guys are quickly established and we essentially learn everything we need to know about them in the first 20-30 minutes of the film. The rest is a fast paced ruckus oozing testosterone out of every pore. The film is a trip back to the days of intense 80's action movies with the biggest stars (figurativley and literally) making the biggest booms possible. The Expendables is all about the stars and the action, not so much about anything else. And for what the film aims to accomplish, it does a decent job at it.
The film is almost nonstop action, but when it does slow down it becomes pretty useless. My initial response to thinking about the story of the film is... what story? It is there, but it only serves the purpose of holding up the action and excitement, what the film is really about. What the film does try to do other than shoot stuff is develop characters. The film focuses on the relationship between Stallone and Statham's characters, but not nearly enough time is devoted to this and it ultimately becomes silly and empty. There a lot of things this film tries to do amidst the action, but it isn't able to succeed anywhere. The film eventually gets lost in itself and at times will seem to take itself too seriously, only to turn around a few minutes later and become intentionally frenetic and crazy. You can't fault the film for trying, or else it would be another empty popcorn flick, but unfortunately it's a failed attempt and I think it will be lost amongst the extensive action genre.
The Expendables obviously has no shortage of action, so it is hard to not be entertained somewhere along the line of this film. However, in retrospect there are only a few scenes that really stand out in the film and will probably be remembered down the line of awesome action sequences. Yet overall it's just another action film that serves as a decent diversion from the limits of physically possible feats of man. It's enough to put a grin on your face if you enjoy watching someone get blown in half back a shotgun or get decapitated by a giant shuriken knife, but it doesn't accomplish the same memorable feats that the older action film The Expendables pays homage to did. The greatest fault of the action would have to be Stallone's fetish for the shaky cam. Stallone needs to invest in a tripod for his next action exploitation, if only to reduce the amount of headaches and audience confusion. In my opinion the shaky cam is what is bringing down today's action genre, spiraling it into the ground. But that's just a personal preference of mine, and not something worth ranting about at the moment.
The Expendables has a great cast lineup and will undoubtedly entertain, and that's about it. Take it as it is and don't expect anything incredible. It's worth the watch if you enjoy gory entertainment with no purpose other than to divert your attention from the real world and give you a testosterone fueled good time.