“The Expendables 2” is the kind of dumb action movie fun we
have come to expect from the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger
and Bruce Willis among others famous in this particular genre. Clearly everyone
involved in its making is simply out to give action fans what they want, and
while there are no real surprises in store, it is still fun for those who just
want to enjoy the R-rated carnage being inflicted onscreen without analyzing this
sequel’s threadbare plot too much. It’s also nice to see a lot of these action
movie icons come together in the same film, and it helps to make “The
Expendables 2” more memorable than its predecessor.
This sequel opens like gangbusters as the Expendables blast their
way through a village to rescue someone who looks rather familiar (I’ll leave
it to you to find out who it is). Those who survived the first movie (or who
proved to be nowhere as expendable as the film’s title suggested) are back, and
seeing them lay waste to a foreign army made me wonder if these were the soldiers
John Rambo never forgot to eviscerate in “Rambo.”
Afterwards, Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) is greeted by
the secretive Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) who gives Ross a mission he is in no
position to turn down; recover an electronic device that can help retrieve a
dangerous substance that cannot fall into enemy hands. It later turns out that
this substance is plutonium, and the gang is met by an especially villainous character
appropriately named Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who plans to sell it to
the highest weapons making bidder. This leads to the Expendables losing one of
its members in unforgivably cold-blooded fashion, and that ends up making this
particular mission especially personal for them.
Stallone once again has the lead role and co-wrote the
script, but he has turned the duties of director over to Englishman Simon West.
Now West is responsible for “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” “The General’s Daughter”
starring John Travolta, some remakes that vary in degrees of quality (“When A
Stranger Calls” and “The Mechanic”), and perhaps the best Jerry Bruckheimer
guilty pleasure to date – “Con Air.” While I have no problem defending Stallone
as a director, having West take over proved to be a good move. The action
scenes are more cohesive, the editing is not all over the place, and everything
we see onscreen remains appropriately LOUD.
By the way, those who complain about how loud “The
Expendables 2” is, just shut up. All the action movies released in summer 2012 are
just as loud, so we should expect the increase in volume by now. Next time
bring yourself some ear plugs if you want to preserve what’s left of your
hearing!
Now Stallone and Schwarzenegger are definitely showing their
age here (Schwarzenegger especially), but it’s great to see them still kicking
ass even as they have long since become senior citizens. In an industry that continues
to be increasingly youth-based, these veterans prove that the odds against them
are more expendable than they are. Seeing Schwarzenegger handle a machine gun
is especially fulfilling as he proves that he has not lost aim after getting
caught up in the realm of politics for the last few years.
Jason Statham (who returns as knife expert Lee Christmas)
almost looks like a kid next to the rest of the cast, Liam Hemsworth as former
military sniper Billy the Kid practically resembles an infant next to Stallone
which probably makes the majority of the cast feel jealous as a result, and
Terry Crews still knows how to rock a nasty looking gun as weapons specialist
Hale Caesar (nice name). Randy Couture returns as demolitions expert Toll Road,
but he doesn’t get as much to do here. The same goes for Jet Li who plays
combat expert Yin Yang who ends up disappearing from this sequel far sooner
than we could have anticipated. As for Dolph Lundgren who reprises his
character of the volatile Gunner Jensen, he actually grew on me a bit this time
around.
There are some “new” cast members who team up with the
Expendables this time, and they prove to be welcome additions. Nan Yu adds that
needed touch of estrogen to this testosterone dominated franchise as Maggie, a
character who provides some of this sequel’s few surprises as she proves to be
an expert in more ways than one. The previously mentioned Liam Hemsworth gives “The
Expendables 2” that youthful feel of someone who has yet to become as cynical
as his hard-bitten colleagues, and he gives a strong performance as a soldier
eager to steer his destiny in a new direction.
One action star, however, who I was happy to see here was
Chuck Norris who portrays a “lone wolf” retired military operative named Booker
(an homage to the character he played in the 1978 movie “Good Guys Wear Black”).
Now while I can’t agree with Norris’ political beliefs in real life, seeing him
appear onscreen had me applauding. Norris has always had a strong and memorable
presence in the movies I’ve seen him in, and he has one of this movie’s best
lines regarding a snake.
But one actor I actually had more fun watching than I
thought I would in “The Expendables 2” was Jean-Claude Van Damme. His limited
acting skills prove to be a perfect fit for this sequel’s main villain, and he
creates a perfectly detestable bad guy we want to see Stallone and company beat
the crap out of. Now while he may be one of my dad’s favorite actors (I’m just
kidding dad), I’ve never cared much for him in movies other than “Hard Target”
or “JCVD.” But here, Van Damme proves that he still has those graceful moves as
he dares his opponents to take him out minus the use of guns.
I guess I could complain more about “The Expendables 2” as
it likely has more plot holes than anyone would notice upon first glance. But
hey, in the end this is a movie that should be fun, and for me it was. I
enjoyed seeing these action stalwarts come together in one place, and seeing
them interact made for some exciting and funny moments. “The Expendables 2” may
not reach the exhilarating action movie heights of this year’s “The Dark Knight
Rises” or even “The Raid: Redemption,” but it does get the job done. With something
like this, that’s usually the best you can hope for.
* * * out of * * * *
