|
It’s not altogether
an unexpected
sequel, but it still
probably took some
doing for all of the
pieces to come
together for
The Expendables
2.
Sylvester Stallone’s
ultimate ode to
action is back with
its familiar faces,
some new ones too,
and a new director
in the chair as
well. It’s a more
satisfying
experience this time
around, and it’s fun
action movie that
doesn’t take itself
too seriously. If
you were obsessed
with anything
involving
Schwarzenegger,
Willis, Stallone,
Lundgren, or Van
Damme in the 80’s
and 90’s then this
is right up your
ally. If you’re not
a fan of action
movies, really why
are you reading
this?
In the Expendables
2, Barney Ross and
his gang of rag-tag
mercenaries start
out on a simple
mission to rescue a
hostage, only they
manage to Ross’
rival merc chief
Trench
(Schwarzenegger) and
the hostage too.
Anyway, once they’ve
rescued the hostage
and arrive safely
home, Ross gets
confronted by CIA-op
Church (Willis) into
setting out on a
mission to repay a
debt. So, Ross and
his gang of mercs
set off on a mission
to uncover some
nuclear weapon
locations out of a
crashed airplane
safe. They then get
sabotaged by the
movie’s bad guy- the
evil Vilain (yup,
that’s his name…
he’s played by Jean
Claude Van Damme…
and he’s just
awful.) So now with
tons of nuclear
explosives getting
ready to be
unleashed on the
world, it’s up to
Barney and the rest
of the guys to stop
Vilain from selling
them to the highest
bidders.
Okay, so there’s not
much of a plot to
The Expendables 2,
but there doesn’t
really need to be.
Everything just sets
up the next scene of
kick-ass gun fights,
explosions, and even
hand-on-hand combat.
You can really count
seconds off between
action scenes and
the combination of
that and an
established
camaraderie between
all of the stars on
screen... Both of
those traits are
what make this movie
special. In addition
to that, Stallone
isn’t directing this
movie either. Don’t
get me wrong, he did
a fine job with the
first one, but Simon
West does a superior
job. He captures the
action perfectly and
he tends to let the
explosions and the
effects speak for
themselves instead
of going for
over-the-top camera
angles and artistic
shots.
As far as what’s bad
with The Expendables
2… that begins and
ends with Jean
Claude Van Damme’s
character. He’s
brutal here as
Vilain and every
minute he’s on
screen is awful.
Even in the gag
reel, we see Van
Damme messing up his
lines time after
time, but not
laughing in response
to it… just being as
wooden as he
possibly can be.
There will have to
be a new bad guy for
The Expendables 3,
thank goodness for
that.
The special features
on this release are
decent. There’s the
aforementioned gag
reel, an audio
commentary, a
deleted scene, a
piece on the casting
of the film, and
there’s also a
documentary on
action movies in the
70’s and 80’s. It’s
not a bad featurette,
it just kind of
comes off as
ridiculous, when you
see people talk
about action movies
like a scientist
talking about a
dinosaur on a
Discovery Channel
show.
The
Expendables 2 is fun
movie that has some
tongue-in-cheek
humor to go along
with generous
amounts of
kickassery. If
you’re looking to
find something
serious, then it’s
probably best to
avoid this. But if
you’re looking for
action, buckle up
with and watch.
|