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The Expendables 2 (2012)
No other film released this year will match what was my anticipation and excitement towards The Expendables 2. Forget The Avengers, forget The Dark Knight Rises, forget whatever other hyped film that is going to be released this year, this, to me, is the pinnacle of 2012 cinema. So I, at 12:25pm on Saturday afternoon, I sat in the theater with my mum, my grandmother and my brother (his first 15+ film in a cinema, so proud), almost shaking, barely being able to breathe. And when the lights went down, it began.
Sylvester Stallone and co. reprise their roles from the first film, with some new faces, including the addition of Liam Hemsworth as a young sniper with a haunting past. They take on a simple job, as favour to Mr. Church (Bruce Willis), to retrieve a case from a crashed plane, when things go wrong and one of their own is killed by Jean Vilain (Jean Claude Van Damme), and his henchman (Scott Adkins). The Expendables then go on a mission of revenge, joined by some other mercenaries along the way (Chuck Norris, Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger) and a female addition to the team (Nan Yu).
Action is easily my favourite genre of film, particularly the '80's and '90's era. I love the films of Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, Van Damme, Lundgren and (to a lesser extent) Norris. And for fans of these guys (and Statham), this is basically the Holy Grail. A film that basically throws these guys, very little story, a bit of character development and an assload of action into a blender and hopes for the best. And luckily the best happens.
I like the first Expendables. While it was underwhelming in almost every area, I liked the idea of getting all the older action stars and throwing together with some of the younger dudes and essentially creating a throwback to the action classics. And while it was underhwelming in a lot of areas, it had one noteable element: the scene in which three action icons (Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger) share the screen. It's not exactly at Pacino-De Niro Heat level, but it was memorable simply because it got those three together. But it was missing something. Something that it's very superior sequel corrects...
That! That is what exactly what I wanted from the first film and I got it here! Seeing three guys talking in a church is ok, but this is ******* legendary! I couldn't breathe when I saw this moment, my childhood heroes shooting the **** out of people and spouting off one-liners. And the greatness didn't end there. I got exactly what I wanted from this film: solid, undemanding action, that kicked ass and didn't feature too much of that crappy CGI blood. It does appear here, but it's toned down to the point where it didn't stand out as much as it did in the first film.
One of the real surprises of this movie for me was the humour of it. It's pretty damn funny, especially to those who watched and loved the previous films of it's stars. There are plenty of jokes that break the fourth wall, my favourite of them all being when Sylvester Stallone says in regards to an old plane. "That thing belongs in a musuem," and Schwarzenegger retorts ""We all do". There's also a crack about Lundgren's personal life, a re-thinking of a Chuck Norris fact and plenty of one-liners that reference other films, including First Blood, Die Hard and The Terminator.
The cast here is a real treat. I was a bit skeptical about the casting of Liam Hemsworth and the addition of a female counterpart, but Hemsworth and Yu Nan both prove to be not annoying and they actually add a bit of heft to the proceedings. Jet Li gets a glorified cameo, but in his small scenes he kicks a bit of ass. Chuck Norris gets the coolest entrance in the film, Arnie has his ultra-cool moments, as does Willis, who gets to have some nice verbal excahnges with Schwarzengger. I liked Statham here a lot more than I thought I would, him and Stallone both share good chemistry in the film's lighter moments. Speaking of Stallone, he's much better here than he was in the first, playing the grizzled, charismatic leader Barney Ross with an extra layer of wit and coolness. Randy Couture and Terry Crews do the best with what they have, but end being characters wasted in the background. However, it's Van Damme and Lundgren who remain the standouts, as the cold villian and comic relief respectively. Lundgren has a gift for comedic timing and Van Damme relishes every moment of his time as Jean Vilain.
This isn't a very rational rating or review. I refused to point the evident flaws in the film, mainly because I enjoyed my experience to much to blemish it with memories of the substandard stuff. What I will say is that this is borderline movie of the year so far. There will be better movies made this year, but I doubt I'll enjoy them as much as The Expendables 2.
No other film released this year will match what was my anticipation and excitement towards The Expendables 2. Forget The Avengers, forget The Dark Knight Rises, forget whatever other hyped film that is going to be released this year, this, to me, is the pinnacle of 2012 cinema. So I, at 12:25pm on Saturday afternoon, I sat in the theater with my mum, my grandmother and my brother (his first 15+ film in a cinema, so proud), almost shaking, barely being able to breathe. And when the lights went down, it began.
Sylvester Stallone and co. reprise their roles from the first film, with some new faces, including the addition of Liam Hemsworth as a young sniper with a haunting past. They take on a simple job, as favour to Mr. Church (Bruce Willis), to retrieve a case from a crashed plane, when things go wrong and one of their own is killed by Jean Vilain (Jean Claude Van Damme), and his henchman (Scott Adkins). The Expendables then go on a mission of revenge, joined by some other mercenaries along the way (Chuck Norris, Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger) and a female addition to the team (Nan Yu).
Action is easily my favourite genre of film, particularly the '80's and '90's era. I love the films of Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, Van Damme, Lundgren and (to a lesser extent) Norris. And for fans of these guys (and Statham), this is basically the Holy Grail. A film that basically throws these guys, very little story, a bit of character development and an assload of action into a blender and hopes for the best. And luckily the best happens.
I like the first Expendables. While it was underwhelming in almost every area, I liked the idea of getting all the older action stars and throwing together with some of the younger dudes and essentially creating a throwback to the action classics. And while it was underhwelming in a lot of areas, it had one noteable element: the scene in which three action icons (Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger) share the screen. It's not exactly at Pacino-De Niro Heat level, but it was memorable simply because it got those three together. But it was missing something. Something that it's very superior sequel corrects...
That! That is what exactly what I wanted from the first film and I got it here! Seeing three guys talking in a church is ok, but this is ******* legendary! I couldn't breathe when I saw this moment, my childhood heroes shooting the **** out of people and spouting off one-liners. And the greatness didn't end there. I got exactly what I wanted from this film: solid, undemanding action, that kicked ass and didn't feature too much of that crappy CGI blood. It does appear here, but it's toned down to the point where it didn't stand out as much as it did in the first film.
One of the real surprises of this movie for me was the humour of it. It's pretty damn funny, especially to those who watched and loved the previous films of it's stars. There are plenty of jokes that break the fourth wall, my favourite of them all being when Sylvester Stallone says in regards to an old plane. "That thing belongs in a musuem," and Schwarzenegger retorts ""We all do". There's also a crack about Lundgren's personal life, a re-thinking of a Chuck Norris fact and plenty of one-liners that reference other films, including First Blood, Die Hard and The Terminator.
The cast here is a real treat. I was a bit skeptical about the casting of Liam Hemsworth and the addition of a female counterpart, but Hemsworth and Yu Nan both prove to be not annoying and they actually add a bit of heft to the proceedings. Jet Li gets a glorified cameo, but in his small scenes he kicks a bit of ass. Chuck Norris gets the coolest entrance in the film, Arnie has his ultra-cool moments, as does Willis, who gets to have some nice verbal excahnges with Schwarzengger. I liked Statham here a lot more than I thought I would, him and Stallone both share good chemistry in the film's lighter moments. Speaking of Stallone, he's much better here than he was in the first, playing the grizzled, charismatic leader Barney Ross with an extra layer of wit and coolness. Randy Couture and Terry Crews do the best with what they have, but end being characters wasted in the background. However, it's Van Damme and Lundgren who remain the standouts, as the cold villian and comic relief respectively. Lundgren has a gift for comedic timing and Van Damme relishes every moment of his time as Jean Vilain.
This isn't a very rational rating or review. I refused to point the evident flaws in the film, mainly because I enjoyed my experience to much to blemish it with memories of the substandard stuff. What I will say is that this is borderline movie of the year so far. There will be better movies made this year, but I doubt I'll enjoy them as much as The Expendables 2.