"THE EXPENDABLES is a hard-hitting action/thriller about a group of mercenaries hired to infiltrate a South American country and overthrow its ruthless dictator. Once the mission begins, the men realize things aren't quite as they appear, finding themselves caught in a dangerous web of deceit and betrayal. With their mission thwarted and an innocent life in danger the men struggle with an even tougher challenge, one that threatens to destroy this band of brothers.
Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is a man with nothing to lose. Fearless and void of emotion, he is the Leader, the Sage and the Strategist of this tight-knit band of men who live on the fringe. His only attachment is to his pickup truck, his seaplane and his team of loyal modern-day warriors. His is a true cynic who describes what he does as "removing those hard to get at stains". The team behind him is made up of Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), former SAS and a savant with anything that has a blade; Yin Yang (Jet Li), a master at close-quarter combat; Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), who has known Barney for ten years and is a long-barrel weapons specialist; Toll Road (Randy Couture), a skilled demolitions expert and considered the intellect of the group; and Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), a combat veteran and an expert in precision sniping who struggles with his own demons.
When the mysterious Church offers Barney a job no one else would take, Barney and his team embark on what appears to be a routine mission: overthrow General Gaza (David Zayas), the murderous dictator of the small island country of Vilena and end the years of death and destruction inflicted on its people. On a reconnaissance mission to Vilena, Barney and Christmas meet their contact Sandra (Giselle Itie), a local freedom-fighter with a dark secret. They also come to learn who their true enemy is: rogue ex-CIA operative James Monroe (Eric Roberts) and his henchman Paine (Steve Austin). When things go terribly wrong, Barney and Christmas are forced to leave Sandra behind, essentially giving her a death sentence. Haunted by this failure, Barney convinces the team to return to Vilena to rescue the hostage and finish the job he started. And to perhaps save a soul: his own."
If ever anyone actually reads this, remember way back when i posted my thoughts on "Kick Ass"? I said that I was real excited about this movie and that I was going to watch it. I did, and i think the movie was as good as advertised.
If you like action movies, explotions, guns, blades, and a whole lot of violence, you'll love this one. Just ask my father, he usually falls asleep during movies but he was wide awake the entire time. That's how good this movie was, either that or it was Terry Crew's BFG's fault.
PROS:
- Bruce Willis and Arnie's cameos. It would have been better if they had bigger parts but at least this movie featured the other great action stars from the past. Too bad guys like Van Damme and Segal didn't agree to show up, I'm guessing it would have been EPIC. The interaction between Stallone and Arnie (I don't know how to spell his last name so Arnie is what I'll call him), especially that line Sylvester says right after Arnold walks out.
- GREAT ACTION SCENES! The selling point of the movie didn't disappoint, what's so good about it is that the action isn't just limited to guns, it's very varied too. It was pretty much a mix of everything. They've got Hand-to-hand (wrestling, martial arts, street fight, etc.), Sharp stuff throwing, Big ass explotions, and of course. GUNS as in BIG FUCKING GUNS. Guns that wouldn't look out of place in a movie that features some of the biggest arms in Hollywood today.
- Story. I'm putting it as a pro because it was actually OKAY. I went in thinking that the story would be an after thought and would feel forced, the story is pretty much up to par with other great action movies. Another plus side to me is that they made sure that the story wouldn't get it the way of the action, try to read the synopsis up top, I'll wait for you to finish..
...
..
Done? The movie shows it, but they don't go into much detail in order to show it.
- Blood and Gore. This one had just the right amount of it. It wasn't overdone and they also didn't shy away from using it either. Some movies tend to go overboard with this stuff and end up looking fake, while others don't show it at all. this movie strikes the right balance between the two.
THE CONS:
- Delivery. I'm not sure if it was the crappy sound system of the theatre I watched it in but I could barely make sense of some of the words they were saying. But then again, Stallone, Rourke, Statham..those guys aren't easily understood.
- Editing. Especially at the last part, this was a real down side for me, it might not really be that noticeable but they could have done a much better job.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
If you enjoy action movies, you'll love this for sure. It's not THE GREATEST action movie, but the movie delivers and lives up to the high expectations set up by the trailers they've shown. The movie is 100% worth the money you'll spend watching this on the big screen.
Rating: 4.5/5
On a side note:
- The theatre i watched this in was SO CRAPPY. The movie stopped twice for around one second. Right around the middle of the movie, it stopped AGAIN. We pretty much waited for 5 minutes (first was the "Sorry for technical difficulties" then a Ne-Yo song played.."Mad") Then at around the end the sound got weaker, and there was even some parts of the movie when the sound just straigh up died. Shouldn't we get a free ticket?!
Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is a man with nothing to lose. Fearless and void of emotion, he is the Leader, the Sage and the Strategist of this tight-knit band of men who live on the fringe. His only attachment is to his pickup truck, his seaplane and his team of loyal modern-day warriors. His is a true cynic who describes what he does as "removing those hard to get at stains". The team behind him is made up of Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), former SAS and a savant with anything that has a blade; Yin Yang (Jet Li), a master at close-quarter combat; Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), who has known Barney for ten years and is a long-barrel weapons specialist; Toll Road (Randy Couture), a skilled demolitions expert and considered the intellect of the group; and Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), a combat veteran and an expert in precision sniping who struggles with his own demons.
When the mysterious Church offers Barney a job no one else would take, Barney and his team embark on what appears to be a routine mission: overthrow General Gaza (David Zayas), the murderous dictator of the small island country of Vilena and end the years of death and destruction inflicted on its people. On a reconnaissance mission to Vilena, Barney and Christmas meet their contact Sandra (Giselle Itie), a local freedom-fighter with a dark secret. They also come to learn who their true enemy is: rogue ex-CIA operative James Monroe (Eric Roberts) and his henchman Paine (Steve Austin). When things go terribly wrong, Barney and Christmas are forced to leave Sandra behind, essentially giving her a death sentence. Haunted by this failure, Barney convinces the team to return to Vilena to rescue the hostage and finish the job he started. And to perhaps save a soul: his own."
If ever anyone actually reads this, remember way back when i posted my thoughts on "Kick Ass"? I said that I was real excited about this movie and that I was going to watch it. I did, and i think the movie was as good as advertised.
If you like action movies, explotions, guns, blades, and a whole lot of violence, you'll love this one. Just ask my father, he usually falls asleep during movies but he was wide awake the entire time. That's how good this movie was, either that or it was Terry Crew's BFG's fault.PROS:
- Bruce Willis and Arnie's cameos. It would have been better if they had bigger parts but at least this movie featured the other great action stars from the past. Too bad guys like Van Damme and Segal didn't agree to show up, I'm guessing it would have been EPIC. The interaction between Stallone and Arnie (I don't know how to spell his last name so Arnie is what I'll call him), especially that line Sylvester says right after Arnold walks out.
- GREAT ACTION SCENES! The selling point of the movie didn't disappoint, what's so good about it is that the action isn't just limited to guns, it's very varied too. It was pretty much a mix of everything. They've got Hand-to-hand (wrestling, martial arts, street fight, etc.), Sharp stuff throwing, Big ass explotions, and of course. GUNS as in BIG FUCKING GUNS. Guns that wouldn't look out of place in a movie that features some of the biggest arms in Hollywood today.
- Story. I'm putting it as a pro because it was actually OKAY. I went in thinking that the story would be an after thought and would feel forced, the story is pretty much up to par with other great action movies. Another plus side to me is that they made sure that the story wouldn't get it the way of the action, try to read the synopsis up top, I'll wait for you to finish..
...
..
Done? The movie shows it, but they don't go into much detail in order to show it.
- Blood and Gore. This one had just the right amount of it. It wasn't overdone and they also didn't shy away from using it either. Some movies tend to go overboard with this stuff and end up looking fake, while others don't show it at all. this movie strikes the right balance between the two.
THE CONS:
- Delivery. I'm not sure if it was the crappy sound system of the theatre I watched it in but I could barely make sense of some of the words they were saying. But then again, Stallone, Rourke, Statham..those guys aren't easily understood.
- Editing. Especially at the last part, this was a real down side for me, it might not really be that noticeable but they could have done a much better job.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
If you enjoy action movies, you'll love this for sure. It's not THE GREATEST action movie, but the movie delivers and lives up to the high expectations set up by the trailers they've shown. The movie is 100% worth the money you'll spend watching this on the big screen.
Rating: 4.5/5
On a side note:- The theatre i watched this in was SO CRAPPY. The movie stopped twice for around one second. Right around the middle of the movie, it stopped AGAIN. We pretty much waited for 5 minutes (first was the "Sorry for technical difficulties" then a Ne-Yo song played.."Mad") Then at around the end the sound got weaker, and there was even some parts of the movie when the sound just straigh up died. Shouldn't we get a free ticket?!
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