It's a great idea: Take a whole herd of aging action stars--some old, some not so old--and put them all together in one action-packed film. Throw in stalwarts Sylvester Stallone (who both co-wrote and directed), Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, and the Governator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with more modern iterations like Jason Statham and Jet Li, plus some sports/wrestling icons like Terry Crews, Steve Austin, and Randy Couture, and throw in a couple of just general wonky bad-asses like Eric Roberts and Mickey Rourke. Throw them together on an island, stir liberally, and just let them shoot, hit, and blow up things. Voila! Instant action film, especially in the lowered expectations realm of Lionsgate.
Sad to say The Expendables doesn't quite live up to its greatness in execution. While there's a certain curiosity factor seeing all these guys--and it is ALL guys, for the most part--mix it up, Stallone's muddy direction (especially of the action scenes; it's sometimes impossible to figure out who's hitting who), a lackluster script, and a lot of missed opportunities make this film, quite frankly, expendable. At least until it comes out on DVD.
The biggest mixed opportunity--and probably due to both scheduling and budget--is the scene featuring Stallone, Willis, and Schwarzenegger. Willis's character is the most fascinating in the film, a shadowy CIA figure who hires the boys to invade an island. Schwarzenegger--barred from any real movie-making except a cameo by his day job--is Stallone's competitor for the job, who declines. The real selling point to any sequel--to me, at least--would be more Willis and Arnold. (Maybe Lionsgate and Stallone can hold off until January or so to get moving on this when Arnold ceases his gubernatorial duties.) And what's the deal with Mickey Rourke? Not really known for any action roles (unless you count 9 1/2 Weeks), he's saddled with playing the sad, soulful guy, stuck with solilioquies that bring the movie to a crashing halt.
In the end, The Expendables is a collection of moments, the sum of which does not, sadly, make a great film, only a so-so one. Still, if Stallone can pull off a sequel with more screen time for both Willis and Schwarzenegger, that's the team that could make this whole enterprise much less expendable.
The Expendables is everything I hoped it would be, I'm seeing it again. If you haven't seen it yet, GO!
Posted by: ashley | August 31, 2010 at 04:21 PM