We all have our preferences on what entertains us in movies, but when a movie is categorized as an action movie, what should we expect to see in that movie? It’s all about the action for me; over-the-top, thrilling, explosive, with a lot of fights, gun play and car chases and very little expectations from the story. What makes an action movie great for you?
To bring iconic action stars together to kick-butt in a movie was a creative idea. It conveyed great memories growing-up, and presented new and old questions of what if, Bruce Willis, Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger were in a movie together. When the movie “The Expendables” came out, it brought enjoyment and surprises. Along with many other fans, I started wondering who I would like to see in the next movie. With the release of “The Expendables 2” we are entertained with a thrilling action movie with more iconic action heroes to rewind our memories of why we remember them as action stars.
The story takes place with Church played by Bruce Willis demanding Barney Ross played by Sylvester Stallone to pay his debt by completing a mission. Barney and his team have no choice but to take the assignment while babysitting Maggie played by Nan Yu; a specialist to help retrieve a package. After retrieval the team encounters hostile forces leading to the death of their newest member causing a chain of events full of destruction, death and into dangerous territory with overwhelming odds that will require more man power than what they have.
The original cast; Barney played Sylvester Stallone, Lee played by Jason Statham, Yin played by Jet Li, Gunner played by Dolph Lundgren, Hale played by Terry Crews, and Toll played by Randy Couture are all present. Yin is only in the movie for the first half, but leaves the old fashion way with overwhelming odds, showing his true martial arts talents. Gunner is a bit more humorous. Hale is still his badass self, loving his big weapons. Toll could have shown more of his MMA fighting talents. Lee as always delivers amazing fight scenes. Barney was still sporting his 6 shooter delivering some fun gun-play moments.
Trench played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Church played by Bruce Willis brought some fun moments giving us a ride back in memory lane of famous lines and action scenes of why they are still considered bad ass!
Booker played by Chuck Norris stole some scenes with his one man army style action, but left me feeling disappointed. Not much of his martial arts skills were not presented in the movie.
Vilain played by Jean-Claude Van Damme was awesome. His presentation reminded me of Alex in Double Impact; the overconfident, tough guy attitude that seemed to work well for the movie. He does present his signature martial arts kick, but does not show much action until closer to end of the movie, which was disappointing.
One actor that I was surprised to see in the movie was Hector played by Scott Adkins. He was in the movie “Bourne Ultimatum” who had a good fight scene with Bourne and if you haven’t seen the movie “Undisputed III: Redemption”, you should. It reveals how talented of a martial artist Scott really is. In this movie the best fight scenes in my opinion is with Scott Adkins and Jason Statham. They are truly brutal and intense during their one-on-one action.
Overall, this is a movie to watch with a large size popcorn, or larger for its truly non-stop action that will keep you entertained that you may run out of popcorn given the amount of bullets this movie uses, just don’t expect a lot from the story. Now my wish list for the Expendables 3 is to see Jackie Chan, Michael Jai White, and Steven Segal on the roster.
I give “The Expendables 2” 4 out of 5 stars simply because it’s just a fun action movie.
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