Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat.
A little more brain to match its brawn would have helped.
A huge, bulging disappointment.
The only reason to watch is Jason Statham, but even the Stath can't rescue this hooey.
As a poignant study of the ageing process, it's on a rough par with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. For The Expendables 3, they might want to consider enlisting Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson and Judi Dench.
In the ultimate Eighties throwback, director Simon West (Con Air) stages the stunts and explosions in camera, rather than recreating them with computer graphics, which gives proceedings a flame-grilled authenticity. I was thoroughly appalled, mainly at myself for enjoying it.
The only winners here are the stuntmen, presumably earning overtime for all the fill-ins they had to do.
Must make a nice change from sitting around the retirement home comparing old wounds.
It’s West’s best since Con Air 15 years ago. But that’s not saying much, as his recent output has included an inferior remake of a Michael Winner film (The Mechanic), another poor remake of a woman-in-peril shocker (When A Stranger Calls) and the teeth-grindingly awful Lara Croft Tomb Raider. He’s not going to be winning Oscars any time soon.
In short, it's not the sort of film you should take too seriously. Indeed, it's barely a film at all. Statham and Van Damme still have the knowing charisma and balletic athleticism to convince as action stars, but the others treat The Expendables 2 as a backslapping reunion party – so maybe it doesn't matter that its heroes all seem to be bulletproof.
The Expendables 2 has again brought together a familiar team of ageing, muscle-bound, second-rank performers (would the collective term be a knucklehead of action heroes?) to go around the world laughing, drinking, killing and generally manning up in a characteristically macho manner.
General release. Check local listings for show times.