The Expendables

Watching The Expendables, you can't help but think that the movie was a lot more fun to make than it is to watch. The movie is kind of a grand reunion of the "old guard" of action movies. You have Sylvester Stallone as the director, co-writer, and lead star. You have Jason Statham as his partner, lead co-star, and one-liner sparring partner. You have a cast that includes Jet Li, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, and even Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger in cameos. The movie's even smart enough to put them in a plot that doesn't matter, and mainly revolves around them killing as many faceless extras as possible.

But something's a little off here. I wasn't enjoying myself, and I wasn't thrilled when all the big explosions and fight scenes were going off. That's because while the cast may be of the "old school", the filmmaking and editing is definitely of the more recent variety. It's built around rapid shots and editing so tight, many of the action sequences turn into a guessing game of who is killing who? We find ourselves waiting to the end of a fight to find out how it came out, and what just happened. Where is the fun in that? Stallone has directed more than his share of big action movies, which makes me wonder why he decided to go with this approach? Did he really think the jerky and quick editing on display here was an improvement over his old style? The movie assembles all these greats, then makes it hard to watch them, as well as giving them little to do outside of two or three key scenes. I guess casting isn't everything.

This is not a bad movie, but a somewhat disappointing one. I wanted to like it more than I did. I liked the idea that the Expendables (the name of the group that make up the heroes) are a group of guys for hire who work out of a tattoo parlor and wait for jobs that come over the phone, like low-rent superheroes. The leader of the group is Barney (Stallone), who lives only for the mission, and has no personal attachments to others. Of course, this will obviously change by the end credits. His best friend Lee (Statham) is a specialist with knives, and is dealing with a bad break up with a former girlfriend. Tool (Rourke) is the guy who acts as their mentor, and gives them assignments. The rest of the group only show up for action sequences, and are comprised of Ying Yang (Li), Toll Road (Couture), Hale Caesar (Crews), and Gunner (Lundgren). And yes, their names are all you need to know about them.

They're approached by a man who goes by the name of Mr. Church (Willis), who gives them the assignment to travel to Central America to take out an evil dictator (David Zayas), a former CIA agent turned drug runner named James Munroe (Eric Roberts), and Munroe's right-hand man (Austin). What starts as a mission for money turns personal for Barney when he develops feelings for the dictator's daughter, Sandra (Giselle Itie), who wants to aid The Expendables in their mission of freedom, but does not want to leave her people behind. Barney and his men are essentially sent in to blow everything and everyone in their path away, which would be sufficient enough in a movie of this type, if the action sequences were edited with more coherency. Since they are not, we're left not as thrilled as we should be.

The Expendables is a perfect example of a movie that knows the music, but not the lyrics. Everything seems to be in place, but something is always just a little off. The one-liners and comic barbs that the heroes constantly fling at each other and their enemies just don't resonate. There are no classic lines that the cheesy 80s action classics (that his movie is trying to emulate) were known for. The villains are also weak and unmemorable. Eric Roberts and Steve Austin sneer and smile wickedly, but there's nothing behind it. No evil glee, no sense that these guys are getting joy out of oppressing the poor people. We want to hate these guys, but we never do.

This is a movie that should be big, dumb, fun, and I guess it is. I just think that Stallone and company emphasized the dumb a little too much of the three necessary ingredients. The Expendables gets the job done, but it really should have done more. Take away the big names and the nostalgia, and you're left with a very standard movie that wouldn't cut it in most other circumstances.

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