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The Expendables 2

by JayDee
posted on 2/10/13
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Year of release
2012

Directed by
Simon West

Written by
Richard Wenk
Sylvester Stallone

Starring
Sylvester Stallone
Jason Statham
Dolph Lundgren
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Terry Crews
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Bruce Willis

The Expendables 2

+

Plot – The Expendables are still in business and going strong. With a new addition in the shape of young sniper Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth), things are running smoothly for Barney Ross (Stallone) and company. That is until Mr Church (Willis) once again tracks them down and forces them to take on a job to clear their debt to him. What should apparently be an easy day at the office turns disastrous when they are accosted by a group of thugs led by Jean Vilain (Van Damme). After a tragic turn of events that leaves one of their team dead, the Expendables are now out for revenge. And trust me, the team of Barney Ross, Lee Christmas (Statham), Gunnar Jensen (Lundgren), Hale Caesar (Crews) and Toll Road (Couture) are not individuals you want to anger. Especially with occasional backup in the form of Booker (Chuck Norris), Trench (Schwarzenegger) and Mr Church.

While the first Expendables film worked as a fun nostalgia fest, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed with it. Sylvester Stallone himself admitted that he struggled with the tone on the first film and it did feel rather uneven. This sequel however is a much leaner, meaner and more focused beast; pretty much an improvement in every department. A large aspect of that is likely down to Sylvester Stallone relinquishing the director's chair this time out. His ordeal on the first film appeared to be absolutely brutal; he would take an absolute beating in front of the camera before immediately getting behind it. By freeing himself from such a task he allowed himself to concentrate purely on his own performance, and capturing the tone and characterisation of his fellow expendables. The first Expendables was a bit of a darker, grittier proposition both in terms of tone and appearance. This time out however it is much funnier, has a brighter colour palette and just generally seems to be told on a bigger scope.

The film opens very strongly with a terrifically chaotic 15 minute sequence which sees our bad ass heroes ride into an enemy encampment in a series of Mad Max style vehicles. What follows is just a hail of blood, bullets and explosions that really gets the film off to a flying start. And the film closes with a brutal smackdown between Stallone and Jean-Claude Van Damme's nefarious evildoer. When it comes to the action in the Expendables films it's pretty much all about excess, with some ridiculous weaponry on show. This breaks from that however in that it's not a showy or stunt-heavy confrontation. It's a much more scaled down, personal battle that is quick and raw and fuelled by the rage and hatred within Stallone's character. In between these two action highpoints, Simon West keeps the action coming at quite a pace, staging the sequences well and ensuring that it keeps your adrenaline flowing and your pulse racing as the film racks up an preposterously astronomical body count.

The main focus is still very much on the camaraderie between Stallone's Barney Ross and Statham's Lee Christmas, and they continue to create a fun buddy bromance. Randy Couture remains firmly in the background (rightly so) but I imagine that Dolph Lundgren and Terry Crews are given more prominence this time out, with Lundgren displaying some nice comic timing on occasion. Chuck Norris' appearance is limited to a mere cameo but is pretty awesome all the same. He is allowed to look like a very mythical, kick-ass presence and even takes the chance to poke some fun at himself with a reference to the series of Chuck Norris facts that became such a phenomenon. As the nemesis of our loveable renegades, Jean Claude Van Damme proves a very colourful addition to the cast as the ludicrously (but wonderfully) named Jean Vilain. He hams it up in fine style and it's just a real shame that he is not afforded more screen time. Bruce Willis and Arnold's involvement could perhaps still be classed as glorified cameos but their involvement is certainly much expanded this time out. The first film had them meeting up with Stallone in a church, and while it was great to see them on screen together they weren't able to get in on the action. This time however both men are given the opportunity to hold a gun in their hand and blow away the villainous trash, all the while throwing out one quip after another.

The script is unlikely to be studied by academics as a fine example of the screenwriting craft, but it accomplishes the required job pretty much perfectly and is able to capture the 80s action film spirit that it attempts to harken back to. It presents us with a fairly basic plot which is strong enough to hold our interest but easy to follow. It is just about able to divvy up the standout moments between the cast so that just about everyone is given their chance to shine. And it is actually able to generate quite a consistent stream of laughs; creating the fun group dynamic of the characters ribbing each other and providing a bountiful amount of one-liners and puns. A few times throughout the film the cast, particularly Schwarzenegger and Willis, engage in some especially cheesy in-jokes and references to their past body of work. Amongst other instances Arnie talks about 'being back' before stealing Willis' 'yippie kay yay' line. These moments come so close to being cringeworthy but remain just the right side of the line that they work in the same way as a Christmas cracker joke may – it makes you chuckle even if you're shaking your head at it.

While the script spends a good deal of time just trying to make these guys look as bad-ass as possible, it is done with a streak of self-awareness and introspection throughout both in terms of the characters and the actors themselves. They frequently acknowledge their faults (such as relationship issues) and in particular their age, joking that they all belong in a museum. The younger additions to the cast (Liam Hemsworth and Nan Yu) are employed to good use as a means of highlighting these issues.

Oh and while other people may have got their fill in the first film, for me just the opportunity to see all these action legends together is still a treat. And that is especially true when it comes to the Planet Hollywood trio of Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger. Being able to see them side by side in the same frame, guns in hand, is just such an awesome moment.

And all of this positivity leaves me with just one thing to say – roll on The Expendables 3! With the rumoured additions of Nicholas Cage, Wesley Snipes and Jackie Chan it appears that the Expendables flicks will continue to get bigger; let's just hope they also continue to get better. Oh and in the extremely rare case that Sylvester Stallone may be reading this I've got a suggestion for you Sly. Jean-Claude Van Damme had an incredible knack for playing multiple characters in his films (The Replicant, Maximum Risk, Timecop, Double Impact etc) so you should play into that. Here he played Jean Vilain, well in the third instalment bring him back as Jean's twin Claude Vilain! He could either be the bad guy out to avenge his brother, or make him a good guy and part of the expendables.

Conclusion - The first film had the whiff of a museum piece about it, as if it existed purely as a means to gather together all these guys in one place. This sequel however, is just a damn fun film in its own right and makes use of the talent at its disposal. All those involved just seem to be having a great time, and this time round the feeling was certainly mutual for this viewer. Indeed were it not for the increased amount of wrinkles on their faces, you could almost mistake this for one of their classics from their 80s/early 90s heydays.