In an age where men wear pink and apply lotion to their skin, there is still one walking, breathing, line-slurring collection of macho muscle out there among the Hollywood Elite.
That man is Sylvester Stallone.
‘The Expendables’ is a movie that he has yearned to do for a long time and finally has delivered it to the public in all of its testosterone-filled glory. Stallone has created a movie to satisfy all aficionados of 80’s action classics.
The movie starts by introducing a team of action heroes as they deal with Somali pirates; Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, Terry Lewis and Stallone himself make up the mercenary team that dispatches the pirates onboard a freighter in the Gulf of Aiden.
In less than ten minutes, the audience has experienced a full automatic gun fight and plenty of witty banter between Stallone and Statham.
From here the movie follows the mercenaries back to the United States. After a complication, Gunner (Lundgren) is let go from the team setting up his return as a newly employed bad guy.
We are thrown into the private lives of the mercenaries, illustrated by Jason Statham having lady trouble back in the US after being away from his girlfriend for some time. Her new boyfriend is safe… for now. Statham doesn’t beat him into a pulp until later on when he has a good reason, rather than when he feels like it.
Following the whole clandestine mercenary lore, Stallone meets a shady CIA operative who goes by the name of Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) and reunites with Trench, a friend from his past (Arnold Schwarzenegger).
After these three action gods throw out a series of insults, wisecracks, and references to action movies they’ve starred in in the past, Mr. Church hires Stallone and his team to perform a potential suicide mission.
The storyline from here is pretty standard mercenary fare: Evil dictator runs tiny country in Central America that produces drugs for a rich white American businessman whose personal body guard is none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The good guys are hired to save said country and help the people. A few plot twists ensue, resulting in one of the movie’s better story lines.
This is a flick best appreciated by hardcore action fans. Its strongest feature is the action and ridiculously awesome lineup of stars.
Moviegoers beware: There is no stop to the explosions, gunshots, knife slashing, gratuitous fight scenes, and removal of body parts by large caliber weapons. This film is certainly not for the faint of heart. However, the viewers can leave their brains at the theater’s entrance and enjoy good, violent, summer-popcorn-action film fun.
This movie is rated R and it stands by it in its amount of violence and language.
The Expendables may not revolutionize the action genre, but it’s a great and fun movie to sit through. If you enjoy mindless fun and all-star casts, a treat awaits.