The Expendables 2 film review...

 
What's it about?
Head-crushing sequel to 2010's muscles-n-guns festival-of-awesome The Expendables, which gathered practically every big name in action cinema under one tent pole extravaganza of explosions and flying lead. This time around, Jean Claude Van Damme's "Vilain" (with Scott Adkins in-tow) wants to get his hands on multiple tonnes of previously-hidden uranium to sell to the highest bidder - naturally, our band of gun-toting heroes must save the day, with punching, kicking, and just a little bit of shooting and blowing shit up.
Who would I recognise in it?
Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Scott Adkins, Chuck Norris, Liam Hemsworth, Charisma Carpenter.

Click "READ MORE" below for the full skinny on Stallone & Co's latest action-fest...

Flavours of the Month: January 2011...

LOOKS:

Kick Ass (Blu-Ray) - still a great flick. I'd forgotten how thrilling the action set pieces were, too.

Scott Pilgrim VS. The World (Blu-Ray) - three of the four commentaries and another viewing on top, plus all the special features. I must have heard the menu music a hundred times by now.

Inception (Blu-Ray) - Nolan's mind-bender blockbuster is still as spiffing as it was in the cinema, if not more so.

The Expendables (Blu-Ray) - Ultimate Recon Mode is quite impressively done, and one of the best Picture-in-Picture tracks I've seen so far. While I generally prefer Rambo to this, it's still a bloody good time and I look forward to a sequel.

Black Books - years late to the party, but we barged through the rest of the complete box set.

Boardwalk Empire - it took a couple of episodes to get into it, but you find yourself becoming really quite invested in the characters and the complexities of their relationships. Plus the re-creation of the 1920s is superb.

Clarkson: The Italian Job - I think his DVD from 2009 was better, but it was still good for a bit of a Top Gear-like fix. The best sequence was the race at the end.

Lost: Season Three & Four DVD Extra Features - now I just need to get my mits on the last two seasons.

Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide - 3 discs of video nasty goodness, and surprisingly informative. Definitive, most definitely.


SOUNDS:

The Black Angels "Directions To See A Ghost" - I love their first album (Passover), and I've come to really dig this second outing too.

Daft Punk - Tron: Legacy Soundtrack - the flick was the visual and aural treat of 2010, so Daft Punk's superb soundtrack has been in my CD autochanger ever since.

Sex Bob-Omb, Metric "Black Sheep", and Nigel Godrich "Hillcrest Park" - there's been a distinctly Scott Pilgrim flavour to January, so that naturally extended to the aural world too.

Kick Ass OST - not only was it a great action superhero movie, but it had a cool score to boot.

Black Spiders "Just Like A Woman" - as recommended by a fellow fan of Airbourne.

Bo Diddley "Hey, Bo Diddley" - as heard during one of the Mafia 2 cutscenes.


VIBES & FLAVOURS:

Cold - I haven't had one since January 2009, so that was a rubbish few days. I do maintain however that some people who say they have "the flu" actually have a cold, and they're just trying to sound tough. Cold or Flu, they both suck. As if the time of year when you're packing away all the festive decorations wasn't depressing enough, eh?

Script Writing - working on the new version of the short version of zombie mini-epic "The End" (working title), as well as working on an idea to enter for a Public Information Film.

The Big Book of Top Gear 2011 - it's just a bunch of silly old nonsense mostly, but I do love Top Gear.

Cyanide & Happiness Vol. 2: Ice Cream & Sadness - my favourite online webcomic in book form for a second year running.

The Walking Dead Vol. 5: The Best Defense - I continue to make my way through the trade paperbacks for the first time, and while the dialogue is still needlessly filled with unrealistic exposition, the scenarios are intense and gripping. By the end of this volume I was gagging to read the next.

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life (Vol. 1) - the Scott Pilgrim feel to January extended to the first two (of six) volumes of the graphic novels.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Vol. 2) - it's interesting to see that volumes 1 and 2 basically make up an hour of the movie (which runs for an hour and 50 minutes), but it's also cool to see further exploration of the characters and entire sequences that never made it to the film version (such as Ramona and Knives' library battle).

Call of Duty: Black Ops - the second time around, like with the previous CoD, it's not about the hype and all about playing the game on its own level. It also helps that you know what to do, so you don't have moments where the action gets too confusing, which has been the case with first-runs for the last couple of CoD games.

Mafia 2 - I fancied some 1950s gangster action, so I gave this another spin. It's no GTA IV or Red Dead Redemption (essentially being a linear game in a sandbox world), but I still found myself really enjoying it as the story continues to make you invest in the characters. I even got to nab some more achievements and collectibles I'd missed the first time around.

Jeremy Klaxon - Driving Us Insane (A Parody) - just a bit of fun, and one of those pleasant surprise gifts you get at Christmas.

My Chronological Top Ten Films of 2010:

The Book of Eli (17/1/2010):
More of a movie apocalypse than the realism of The Road, with arse kicking action, superb visuals, and a great soundtrack. It's not perfect, and the central theme might turn some away, but I really quite enjoyed it from start-to-finish.

Shutter Island (27/3/2010):
A B-Movie genre flick with the talent and budget of an A-Movie. Scorsese excelled at forboding atmosphere and paranoid asylum-bound mystery, while DiCaprio delivered yet another quality performance.

Kick Ass (4/4/2010):
Superheroes that aren't so super, but who cause a lot of violent havoc and have filthy mouths. Pure, unrestrained entertainment. Sequel please.

Inception (19/7/2010):
A mind-bending blockbuster with a thunderous score, the best trailer of the year, and the ability to mix wow-factor visuals with huh?-factor smarts.

The A-Team (1/8/2010):
One of the pleasant surprises of the year. I thought it was going to be a disaster upon first hearing about it, but it grew on me gradually, and then proved to be an thoroughly enjoyable action romp.

The Expendables (22/8/2010):
I prefered Rambo, but the sheer bad-assery of this 1980s throwback actioner employing modern techniques provided an addictive dose of adrenaline. Plus Terry Crews' shotgun was amazing.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (28/9/2010):
It's a shame it didn't do a bit better at the box office, but it was clear from the first frames that this was going to be a cult hit all the way. This unappologetically niche flick has kept coming back into my mind over the months since its summer release, and I look forward to delving deeper into the Pilgrim universe with the graphic novels.

Jackass 3D (7/11/2010):
The whole 3D thing hasn't evolved beyond a flashy visual gimmick, and I doubt it ever truly will, so a bunch of idiots hurting themselves and flinging various bodily fluids at the camera was an ideal use for this technology. An ideal audience participation experience, filled with absurdly gross-out moments.

Toy Story 3 (Blu-Ray) (23/11/2010):
Perhaps the best one of the three, but certainly tied with the original, this series closer provided guffaws and lumps-in-throats in equal measure. A visual treat with a heart-felt script to match. It tugged on your heart strings with Pixar's perfected storytelling skills and was a definite 2010 Top Five moment. That sequence in the final act alone was enough to earn it endless kudos.

Tron Legacy (2/1/2011):
The script could have used a touch more shading for certain aspects, but as a visual and aural experience it was second-to-none for 2010. The 3D wasn't employed to particularly involving effect as the neon glitz of The Grid overtook any depth-of-field snazziness with ease, and the soundtrack by Daft Punk was pulse-poundingly perfect. I really enjoyed this flick, and while the original was a very important moment in cinematic history, this sequel really delivered the goods for me.

Honourable Mentions:

The Road (31/1/2010):
This is exactly how the apocalypse would be in real life - unlike The Book of Eli's darkly entertaining movie-apocalypse - a harrowing and tough experience. It didn't quite have the hauntingly memorable quality of Cormac McCarthy's superb book, but the heartfelt father/son tale translated perfectly to devestatingly moving effect. It's a film for fathers to deal with the fact that one day they'll be gone and their offspring will have to fend for themselves, and it's a film for sons to deal with the realisation that one day their guiding light will be extinguished. Like I said - devestatingly moving.

Machete (28/11/2010):
Perhaps I had amped it up in my head too much since the release of the thoroughly enjoyable Grindhouse, but Machete didn't quite fire on all cylinders after an uproariously entertaining opening. However, despite the slight disappointment, it was filled with that gleeful grindhouse vibe and I'm sure I'll enjoy it time-and-again on home video.

The Town (26/9/2010):
Ben Affleck's heist thriller might have treaded similar boards to many other heist thrillers, but it's honest and detailed approach to Boston's criminal class, and the three superbly crafted heists made it stand above its peers who have come out in the wake of influential flicks like Michael Mann's Heat.

Back to the Future (re-release, 3/10/2010):
I didn't include this in the 2010 Top Ten as it's a re-release, but it was easily one of - if not the - best cinema-going experience of 2010. The movie is perfect already, so it was glorious to see this life-long favourite on the big screen, but more than that it was heart warming to see young parents bring their young children to see this film that had been so important to them and successfully pass their enjoyment onto their offspring.

The Expendables...

It's interesting that the reviews for this flick have been so split, and that the reviewers who didn't like it also didn't like Rambo. I on the other hand absolutely loved Rambo - proper, old school (with modern techniques) balls-out hardcore action ... like the dictionary definition of "bad ass" made into a movie.

Now along comes The Expendables, and as it said explicitly on the tin, this is an old school throwback to 1980s action cinema - but, yep, with modern techniques and a modern pace. Think along the lines of Cobra, Red Heat, and Commando - but remove the cheesiness, and ante up the action by a hundred and there you are.

It's all about big dudes, big personalities, big muscles, big guns and even bigger explosions - and the big finish to this movie certainly delivers on all of those to exhausting lengths (in a seriously enjoyable way). Many of the classic 80s action flicks - the movies that served action icons of the era so well - had a simple plot, and it's no different here. If you want a complex, conflicted and troubled arse kicker, look elsewhere - the spiffing Bourne trilogy, or Daniel Craig's James Bond are there and waiting ... The Expendables is just about being awesome.

Jason Bourne et al are, if I dare to stagger into a mangled comparison, akin to Nirvana. They delivered a hard edged sound but with the lyrics exploring the deep, dark depths of Cobain's troubled mind and life. The Expendables (and Rambo, for that matter), is akin to AC/DC ... catchy rock riffs with thunderstruck raspy lyrics. AC/DC are bad ass - and The Expendables is bad ass.

Some of the big names might be somewhat sidelined, some might say, but they all tear up the screen with their big-time presences. Stallone (an 80/90s action icon) and Statham (a 00/10's action icon) are the leads here, and they have a nice rapport going throughout. It's a rapport which infiltrates the whole movie - a nice, unobtrusive mix of humour amidst the exploding buildings, flying bullets, and splattering gore.

Speaking of which, there is some pretty obvious CGI gore littered throughout the movie. It's properly good fun, no doubt, but certain shots could have used a bit more work to blend the CG-claret more smoothly into the existing picture. That said, the action and cutting are so fast-paced you won't have time to linger - and thankfully the shaky-cam doesn't run roughshod over the proceedings. Again the movie strikes a nice balance - between understanding and seeing all the cool action stuff, and giving the audience a suitably rough ride for the duration.

Like with Rambo, I eagerly await this flick on home video release. I had a properly fun time, with a grin from ear-to-ear, and I do hope the DVD/BR release is jam-packed with equally arse kicking extras. The protagonist's souls may be tortured, but they don't whine about it, they blow something up instead. It's classic action with a modern sense of showmanship ... and I can't help but think that at least some of those complaining about the movie have completely and utterly missed the entire point of the movie.