We watched the Expendables and I have to tell you I was very afraid to watch this. Considering how much I love action movies I was very worried the plot was going to be so bad that I would need to just shut my eyes during most of the dialogue. Not to say that there weren't plot holes. There were, but they were small.
I did have a problem with one of the action scenes that seemed to be anti-climatic. They build up a character to be very tough, so tough our protagonist can't handle him. Then he's taken down by a lesser character in a short amount of time and in a less than special way.
Charisma Carpenter was great. I was really impressed with the part given to Jason Statham. His character was likeable and his story was well written. Jet Li was given a few moments to shine. Mickey Rourke was given a very emotional scene and he did a great job with it. However I felt that Rourke's scene was too long and perhaps unnecessary. Although I should give Stallone credit for not going for the obvious and way overdone motivation (The 'I'm so in love with this woman I will move heaven and Earth to save her'.) I also need to point out that there was nothing about this movie that necessitated me seeing Mickey Rourke's gut.
There's no way I can review this movie without mentioning the amazing moment that was given to Terry Crews. I was worried he wouldn't get a good scene but he was given a great moment that myself and the audience loved. Dolph Lundgren's acting was pretty good and his scenes were solid.
If I were Slyvester Stallone I would be very proud of this movie. He did show people that he can write a half decent story. The action scenes were more than passable save the one I mentioned earlier. I would have gone a different way for the closing sequence but then without the overdone motivation it is a little harder to come up with an ending.
Earlier today I watched Bella. Bella has some touching moments and I do love Tammy Blanchard. I may have seen every Law & Order episode she's ever been in. The leading man, Eduardo Verastegui, really shocked me. He is both talented and drop dead gorgeous. That is one hard combination to find.
What this movie lacked in plot it made up in style and tone. If the actors hadn't been so fantastic this could have been a real snooze fest. There are some well done revelations about the character's lives but you don't get the sense that it is really building to something. As a movie goer you know something is going to happen but there isn't any honest to goodness conflict that is actually maintained throughout the movie. The Americanized ending is given to us though I don't think it was earned in this movie.
It seems that perhaps the director knew about these shortcomings and trimmed this puppy down to a tidy hour and thirty minutes. I think that was very sensible. There are so many times when I walk out of movie telling my friends 'I could have cut 30 minutes out of that movie.'
I would recommend this movie to others but with a caution.
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