Director: Sylvester Stallone
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, etc.
Country: United States
Rating: R
Run Time: 103 min
Stallone's baby, The Expendables, is the ultimate love letter to all things action. After showcasing a surprising level of maturity in his two comeback films, Rocky Balboa and Rambo, Stallone delivered The Expendables, a film that pays tribute to the by gone days of the 80s action film and the men who starred in those films. The Expendables is one of, if not the most notable film in the 'old guys kick ass' movement. It all started with Stallone's own comeback films, followed by Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, and eventually the return of John McClane in Live Free or Die Hard and Indiana Jones in Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
A plethora of aged action stars and memorable characters returned to the big screen in the late 2000s in order to prove that old guys could still kick ass. However, it was Stallone's The Expendables that cemented said movement and certified the aged action stars' return to the big screen for at least the next couple of years. In fact, several of the actors who appear through The Expendables had not appeared on the big screen for either many years or had never appeared in quite a film as high profile as Stallone's latest. The Expendables, flaws and all, stands as the shining idol for the action genre in all of its aged and bombastic glory.
 |
| Barney, you have to get over the whole Expendables thing. You're just a mercenary. |
The Expendables tells the story of a group of mercenaries who go on missions too dangerous for other experienced killers and army men. The leader of the team, Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), is a rugged killer who has seen better days. When he and his team get the invite to take out a general controlling a small island, Ross scopes out the island with fellow Expendable, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham). Ross soon finds himself in over his head when he connects with one of the citizens on the island and realizes that the general controls an army backed by a former CIA operative. Even though Ross initially backs off from the mission, he and the rest of the Expendables agree to free the island from the grips of the general when the mission becomes personal.
It's no secret that The Expendables is made for fans of the action genre, plain and simple. Stallone crafts a basic narrative that serves as an excuse to intertwine the lives of various characters played by action stars. Therefore, one should not expect anything meaty or intriguing to Stallone and friends' mercenary proceedings. This is a fan service film filled with cameos, one-liners, and excessive action sequences aimed at the action crowd. Stallone still deserves a slap on the hand though for only being able to craft a narrative this basic and razor thin. The Expendables' mercenary proceedings could have easily been duplicated within some throwaway direct to video film written by some lazy screenwriter. However, the biggest draw of The Expendables is its ensemble cast of A-list actors and has beens who tear up the screen with the kind of old fashioned mayhem that defines the American action genre.
The Expendables is no masterpiece, or even a great film for that matter. Stallone's ode to all things action suffers from cheap humor, under developed characters, and a razor thin plot that exists purely to put stars and action on the screen. That being said, I still find Stallone's ode to all things action irresistible. If one can look past the awful 'dad' humor and cheap digital effects, The Expendables is everything that one wants from an old fashioned action film. How often does one watch an action film with this robust of an ensemble cast? The Expendables is also the only way that you will catch actors like Gary Daniels and Dolph Lundgren on the big screen or within a big studio picture.
Stallone leads a mighty impressive ensemble of action stars and professional fighters who more or less represent the best of what action cinema has to offer. Stallone himself is one of the founders of the action genre. Therefore, it makes sense for the guy to lead, write, and direct the film himself even if his ego and elder age get in the way of what could have been a better film in the hands of a more competent director. If anyone other than Stallone had made the film though, than guys like Dolph Lundgren (Universal Soldier) and Gary Daniels (Riot) would have most likely been absent from the picture altogether. The Expendables truly is a double edged sword: a film filled with fan pleasing cameos and satisfying action but grating humor and ego centric moments.
 |
| The worst comedy duo around and yet I own more than ten of their films each. |
Next up on the roster is Jason Statham (The Transporter) as Lee Christmas. Statham, as well as Jet Li (Once Upon a Time in China) and Gary Daniels, are arguably the most physically able bodied and bad ass of the cast. Therefore, their action sequences tend to come off the best due to their physical abilities and youthfulness. It's interesting to note that Statham garners the second largest amount of screen time behind Stallone's Ross to the point where Statham feels like a co-lead, especially during the first hour of the film when he and Ross scout out the general's island.
The other supporting members of the core Expendables team include Yin Yang (Jet Li), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), Tool (Mickey Rourke), Gunner Hansen (Dolph Lundgren), and Toll Road (Randy Couture). They all garner a smaller amount of screen time than either Stallone or Statham. Unfortunately, Stallone's amateurish screenwriting abilities results in several underrepresented characters. Toll Road and Hale Caesar get little to no screen time or any backstory whatsoever. Yin Yang is not only underdeveloped, but also reduced entirely to stereotypes with a name that reflects his culture and jokes centering around his height. Stallone makes up for this childish sense of humor though by giving Tool a dooming monologue that represents the film's over all message of saving one's soul. "Humorous" moments, like Stallone and friends making fun of Li's height, and Tool's dooming monologue, demonstrate how frustrating a filmmaker Stallone is. Even though the man understands how to make a great film, he can't help but lighten the mood with some silly humor aimed straight at the 'dads' in the crowd.
The Expendables also features cameos by Stallone's biggest competition from the 80s and 90s, Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator) and Bruce Willis (Die Hard). While it is currently no surprise to see aged stars like these appear on screen with one another, it was a big deal at the time to see Bruce, Arnold, and Sly side by side after more than two decades of cinematic competition. The Planet Hollywood trio mostly waste their big scene on awful dialog that a child could have written. The only line that gets an honest chuckle is when Willis remarks to Stallone and Arnold, "You two aren't gonna start sucking each other's dicks now, are you?" Despite the lousy dialog and surprisingly poor framing of the scene (would it kill you for a wide shot of the three of you, Stallone?), the big three make film history and give thousands of action fans exactly what they want by appearing next to one another.
With so many great icons of action represented amongst the heroes' side of the film, the villains' side leaves much to be desired. The lead villain of the film is more or less James Munroe (Eric Roberts), a former CIA operative who feels similar to Henry Silva's character in Seagal's Above the Law. While hardly a stranger to bad ass cinema, Roberts feels hammy and forgetful in a film already filled with iconic actors and memorable performers. Roberts simply isn't connected with the action genre well enough to earn the spot as the film's lead baddie.
In fact, his supporting right hand men, played by Steve Austin and Gary Daniels, are far more qualified to be villains given their sports background and action pedigree. Daniels' supporting role alone earns the film a point or two on the rating scale. He may have the least amount of screen time of any other actor in the film, but damn is he great. If it weren't for Daniels' inclusion, than The Expendables' villain roster would be down right embarrassing. These plentiful action and sports stars are complimented by a rather bleak tone that conveys a sense of danger and realism amidst its action fest proceedings.
The Expendables is tonally the most bleak and brooding of the franchise. Stallone's devoted performance as Ross and Rourke's monologue about saving one's soul demonstrate a maturity that is sorely lacking in the sequels. It's clear that Stallone set out to make the best film possible with The Expendables, not the biggest and busiest action film around. The Expendables 3 is made all the more depressing because one can see Stallone sell out everything that he believes in with that film. Even though the series is only three films deep, The Expendables is the only entry within the franchise to properly balance its serious tone and action scenes amongst a legitimate plot.
Stallone's ode to action cinema excels best when composer Brian Tyler's score roars onto the screen. Tyler composes some of his very best work here with a score that conveys the Expendables team's triumphant nature and melancholy sadness. One watch of Rourke's monologue or Stallone's plead to a dying Dolph Lundgren demonstrates how important and integral Tyler's score is to the success of Stallone's film. Tyler composes a beautiful and heavy hitting score that is honestly more than what Stallone's flawed love letter to action deserves.
The first hour of The Expendables is a particularly average affair. Stallone spends most of the film's first half either developing Ross and Christmas' characters or building up to the eventual climax on the island of Vilena. Stallone treats the audience to two action scenes during the film's initial hour in order to get them through the film's necessary set up. The film doesn't go full action until the final 40 minutes when Stallone unleashes an assortment of martial arts fights, car chases, shootouts, and of course, explosions.
The action scenes in The Expendables range from lousy and mediocre to stellar and bad ass. Highlights include a car chase through Ross' home town, a massive fight in an old series of tunnels, and an explosive finale where every Expendable gets their kill on as they go up against a literal army of trained soldiers. The awesome three way fight between Jet Li, Statham, and Daniels is the absolute best action scene in the entire film. In fact, the entire set piece that takes place within the tunnels below the general's stronghold is the film's strongest display of action. Stallone makes sure to deliver a heavy body count somewhere in the hundreds. After all, how can you make a film that pays homage to the genre where male actors massacre henchmen and bad guys left and right if it doesn't feature a 100 plus body count? Stallone does just fine by the film's plentiful shootouts, practical explosions, and heavy body count. The Expendables' downfall as an action film lies in Stallone's over reliance on digital effects for the film's bloodier moments and moving backgrounds.
Action films from the 70s, 80s, and 90s are well remembered for their practical squibs. It wasn't until the late 90s and early 2000s when digital blood made its way into action cinema. Therefore, unless your film exists within a highly stylized world like 300 or Sin City, digital blood deserves no place in your picture. The unfortunate truth is that The Expendables exists within a real world and heavily utilizes digital blood effects. Some theories about the obvious digital blood and poor green screen effects point to them being the result of a lesser budget and rushed production. However, I highly doubt that the budget had anything to do with it, as $80 million is quite the amount of money to put behind a film. Stallone mostly succeeds in paying tribute to the old days, but stumbles every now and than when awful digital blood and shaky green screens seep into the mix.
The other supporting members of the core Expendables team include Yin Yang (Jet Li), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), Tool (Mickey Rourke), Gunner Hansen (Dolph Lundgren), and Toll Road (Randy Couture). They all garner a smaller amount of screen time than either Stallone or Statham. Unfortunately, Stallone's amateurish screenwriting abilities results in several underrepresented characters. Toll Road and Hale Caesar get little to no screen time or any backstory whatsoever. Yin Yang is not only underdeveloped, but also reduced entirely to stereotypes with a name that reflects his culture and jokes centering around his height. Stallone makes up for this childish sense of humor though by giving Tool a dooming monologue that represents the film's over all message of saving one's soul. "Humorous" moments, like Stallone and friends making fun of Li's height, and Tool's dooming monologue, demonstrate how frustrating a filmmaker Stallone is. Even though the man understands how to make a great film, he can't help but lighten the mood with some silly humor aimed straight at the 'dads' in the crowd.
The Expendables also features cameos by Stallone's biggest competition from the 80s and 90s, Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator) and Bruce Willis (Die Hard). While it is currently no surprise to see aged stars like these appear on screen with one another, it was a big deal at the time to see Bruce, Arnold, and Sly side by side after more than two decades of cinematic competition. The Planet Hollywood trio mostly waste their big scene on awful dialog that a child could have written. The only line that gets an honest chuckle is when Willis remarks to Stallone and Arnold, "You two aren't gonna start sucking each other's dicks now, are you?" Despite the lousy dialog and surprisingly poor framing of the scene (would it kill you for a wide shot of the three of you, Stallone?), the big three make film history and give thousands of action fans exactly what they want by appearing next to one another.
 |
| Love the real explosions, hate the digital blood. |
With so many great icons of action represented amongst the heroes' side of the film, the villains' side leaves much to be desired. The lead villain of the film is more or less James Munroe (Eric Roberts), a former CIA operative who feels similar to Henry Silva's character in Seagal's Above the Law. While hardly a stranger to bad ass cinema, Roberts feels hammy and forgetful in a film already filled with iconic actors and memorable performers. Roberts simply isn't connected with the action genre well enough to earn the spot as the film's lead baddie.
In fact, his supporting right hand men, played by Steve Austin and Gary Daniels, are far more qualified to be villains given their sports background and action pedigree. Daniels' supporting role alone earns the film a point or two on the rating scale. He may have the least amount of screen time of any other actor in the film, but damn is he great. If it weren't for Daniels' inclusion, than The Expendables' villain roster would be down right embarrassing. These plentiful action and sports stars are complimented by a rather bleak tone that conveys a sense of danger and realism amidst its action fest proceedings.
The Expendables is tonally the most bleak and brooding of the franchise. Stallone's devoted performance as Ross and Rourke's monologue about saving one's soul demonstrate a maturity that is sorely lacking in the sequels. It's clear that Stallone set out to make the best film possible with The Expendables, not the biggest and busiest action film around. The Expendables 3 is made all the more depressing because one can see Stallone sell out everything that he believes in with that film. Even though the series is only three films deep, The Expendables is the only entry within the franchise to properly balance its serious tone and action scenes amongst a legitimate plot.
Stallone's ode to action cinema excels best when composer Brian Tyler's score roars onto the screen. Tyler composes some of his very best work here with a score that conveys the Expendables team's triumphant nature and melancholy sadness. One watch of Rourke's monologue or Stallone's plead to a dying Dolph Lundgren demonstrates how important and integral Tyler's score is to the success of Stallone's film. Tyler composes a beautiful and heavy hitting score that is honestly more than what Stallone's flawed love letter to action deserves.
 |
| Dolph vs. Li, a fight that nobody asked for. |
The first hour of The Expendables is a particularly average affair. Stallone spends most of the film's first half either developing Ross and Christmas' characters or building up to the eventual climax on the island of Vilena. Stallone treats the audience to two action scenes during the film's initial hour in order to get them through the film's necessary set up. The film doesn't go full action until the final 40 minutes when Stallone unleashes an assortment of martial arts fights, car chases, shootouts, and of course, explosions.
The action scenes in The Expendables range from lousy and mediocre to stellar and bad ass. Highlights include a car chase through Ross' home town, a massive fight in an old series of tunnels, and an explosive finale where every Expendable gets their kill on as they go up against a literal army of trained soldiers. The awesome three way fight between Jet Li, Statham, and Daniels is the absolute best action scene in the entire film. In fact, the entire set piece that takes place within the tunnels below the general's stronghold is the film's strongest display of action. Stallone makes sure to deliver a heavy body count somewhere in the hundreds. After all, how can you make a film that pays homage to the genre where male actors massacre henchmen and bad guys left and right if it doesn't feature a 100 plus body count? Stallone does just fine by the film's plentiful shootouts, practical explosions, and heavy body count. The Expendables' downfall as an action film lies in Stallone's over reliance on digital effects for the film's bloodier moments and moving backgrounds.
Action films from the 70s, 80s, and 90s are well remembered for their practical squibs. It wasn't until the late 90s and early 2000s when digital blood made its way into action cinema. Therefore, unless your film exists within a highly stylized world like 300 or Sin City, digital blood deserves no place in your picture. The unfortunate truth is that The Expendables exists within a real world and heavily utilizes digital blood effects. Some theories about the obvious digital blood and poor green screen effects point to them being the result of a lesser budget and rushed production. However, I highly doubt that the budget had anything to do with it, as $80 million is quite the amount of money to put behind a film. Stallone mostly succeeds in paying tribute to the old days, but stumbles every now and than when awful digital blood and shaky green screens seep into the mix.
 |
| Crews lights up a guard tower with his trusty AA-12. |
The Expendables is no masterpiece, or even a great film for that matter. Stallone's ode to all things action suffers from cheap humor, under developed characters, and a razor thin plot that exists purely to put stars and action on the screen. That being said, I still find Stallone's ode to all things action irresistible. If one can look past the awful 'dad' humor and cheap digital effects, The Expendables is everything that one wants from an old fashioned action film. How often does one watch an action film with this robust of an ensemble cast? The Expendables is also the only way that you will catch actors like Gary Daniels and Dolph Lundgren on the big screen or within a big studio picture.
I consider Stallone's The Expendables to be a mostly solid action picture that bravely represents the genre that I love so much with all of my heart. Sure, it could have been made better. And yes, Stallone looks like hell in the film. But these guys started it all. And here they are 30 years later, still kicking. I'd be damned if I didn't stand by them and celebrate the action genre with them. The Expendables should be hailed as an important film in action history when all of the titans stood side by side and gave the genre their all one last time.
Rating: 7/10 - A solid action film that marches forward through its flaws thanks to its impressive cast and over all purpose: to keep the old fashioned action film alive and kicking.
Franchise:
The Expendables (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)
The Expendables 2 (Simon West, 2012)
The Expendables 3 (Patrick Hughes, 2014)
No comments:
Post a Comment