The Expendables 2 Review

      Stallone has decidedly so to step down from directing this sequel to the disappointing 2010 "The Expendables," which was more boring and bland than fun. Now stepping behind the camera is Simon West (Con Air) who for better or worse, breathes some new life in a genre that has become more of a joke than anything. Bringing some of that "classy 90's freshness" to it while making a movie more about the 80's action genre, "The Expendables 2" for better or worse, knows what it is and goes for all the low-blows and excitement that made these guys the cultural icons of our time (Don't worry, the action genre has its own place in history). By utilizing some of the highlights of the 2010's "The Expendables," such as Willis and Schwarzenegger, and bringing in new players to join the fun (Norris and Van Damme), oddly enough, this film proves to fair better than the original. Its story is simplistic enough for the bullets and explosions to ensue and hams it up more than it ever could in the first film.  However, it still feels more retained to expectations rather than (no pun intended) blowing them away. It's more safe than daring, and sure, action doesn't have to be more daring than it already is (most of these guys have broken more bones than anyone) but after this year's 'The Raid," one can't help but feel a slight disappointment when all "The Expendables 2" has to offer is more explosions and heads blowing up with dialogue lampooning some of these action stars' careers. At least this is what the first film promised to be from the trailers when it was anything but.

      Barney Ross (Stallone) is yet again forced to complete a task from the ominous Church (Willis) which requires the whole gang to bring back important information about a deadly weapon. However, after the death of a team member from the hands of Vilain (Van Damme) who takes the information away, it becomes more of a revenge tail to not only avenge their comrade, but stop Vilain and his sinister plans.

                                        

        There's no denying it, when the intro to this film is all explosions and blood sprinkling the screen, your in for what you expected; a fun, no-nonsense thrill ride with an energy more invigorating than the original film. The intensity given from the cast well enough supports the film's enjoyment. Statham once again is a lot of fun to watch as Lee Christmas, more deadlier and dangerous with his knives and Stallone shows once again how biceps can overcome an incoherent speech pattern. His performance is not something to take away from the film, but it’s not something irritating to see on screen. Surprisingly, Lundgren is given more to do and has some great moments of pure hilarity. Crews and Coture still feel underused but with the moments given, they don't disappoint. Now, the real meat of this is ultimately from the three icons we've been waiting for; Norris, Willis and Schwarzenegger are a blast to watch on screen and their interaction is well-worth the price of admission. Just the back-and-fourth banter between Willis and Schwarzenegger of nothing but self-deprecating humor of their films is joyous to watch and wishing they had their own starring vehicle of a film. Van Damme is back, and it’s a pleasure to see him chew up the screen as the obvious pun-intended villain, Vilain. Just his presence alone with his smug look make you wanna just hate him automatically, and that's it. There's no need to add any more useless filler to him than he can already compensate for.

       Simon West certainly brings an overwhelming sense of joy and fun that was necessary for a film of this type. He doesn't distract the viewer with crazy, frenetic editing as most commercial directors would, but just presents the action in full frame without the need to specialize it with any more ridiculous tricks. The cast is the main appeal, and West definitely knows it and never wastes their screen time. But while he may boast his cast as the main attraction, he seems to devote time to create new characters that eat up more screen time than the real stars should. Certain characters like Billy (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) are dead weight and serve no purpose other than the provide more members into an exclusive club reserved for the very best action stars. "The Expendables 2" is all about being able to have these action stars in one movie that is both nostalgic and entertaining. Just unnecessary scenes with Maggie and Barney discussing meaningless character development has the movie come to a full stop, thereby halting any tension or momentum that was already built.

       It's a movie made for the auto-pilot button. Nothing to take away from it, except cool action scenes, that's is. "The Expendables 2" doesn't aim to break or form any ground, much less just make it's own stamp on a genre that's starting to become more stale than the plots in any action film. It's definitely a vast improvement from the first one, where that was just potential wasted and squandered by Stallone's inadequate direction. West, having dabbled in his own fair of cheesy action flicks, knows what he's doing, and accomplishes it with some minor speed bumps. If only there was more to the action than what was expected. It's a middle-of-the-road action flick that just so happens to inhabit an all-star cast with more macho-manliness than one's average sugar-coated straight-to-DVD action film.

                                                              Rating: C by Amritpal Rai