The Expendables 2 Review.

With the trailer for the upcoming Expendables 3 released, here is my review for the Expendables 2.

Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Liam Hemsworth are just a few of the star studded action hero cast of the Expendables 2 but is the final produce as awesome as it sounds? Heck yeah!

Although the first Expendables was decent and had its moments, the script was bad, the jokes mostly fell flat, and it took itself far too seriously considering the ridiculousness of the action. However, The Expendables 2 mostly delivered on what we what we wanted from the first, an action-packed, clichéd, movie full of your favorite action heroes from the 80s and 90s; nothing more, nothing less.
In the first Expendables, Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger were on screen for about 4 minutes just talking, in the Expendables 2, however, we finally get to see ultimate Trifecta of 80s action heroes in action in the final battle of the movie, however Arnold and Willis are only in the beginning and end of the movie, not major parts. Plus Chuck Norris is awesome in his few scenes, which were hilarious. The only 80s action stars missing are Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford, who will be featured in the next Expendables.

Directed by: Simon West
Genre: Action,
Release Date: August 17, 2012
Running Time: 103 minutes
MMPA rating: R


The Good: Awesome actions scenes, Hilarious 80s action movie jokes and references, Arnold, Stallone, and Willis on screen together!, Tons of fun,

The Bad: Bad acting throughout, Clichéd plot and dialogue,

Plot: 3.1/10- Wait, was there a plot? OK, the plot was clichéd as action movies get with “The Expendables” trying to stop some plutonium from getting the wrong hands ect. ect. While the plot most certainly dumb, it would have been more effective if the movie did not take itself too seriously at certain points throughout the movie. At about the half-way point of the movie, it slows down, and since the plot and characters are understandably weak, the movie drags a little. Fortunately, the movie is not slow the entire time and the pacing is a lot better than the first Expendables. Also, the dialogue can be horrible at times to the point of hilarity, but hey, who really cares?

Action: 9.7/10- Although a few of the scenes were slightly too dark and the middle part of the movie slowed down some, the action scenes were absolutely freaking awesome! It had some of the best shooting action I have seen in quite some time, despite being outrageously unrealistic. The final action scene with Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Willis and one other action star, which I will not spoil, was pure awesomeness. It was everything that any action movie fan could ever wish for. Although the Expendables 2 is ridiculously unrealistic in terms of the action, I did not find it to be distracting compared to other movies because of the lack of the seriousness, which worked surprisingly well.

Acting: 4.2/10- While Liam Hemsworth, and Willis gave solid yet brief performances, most of the other cast members were mediocre to terrible. Yu Nan as Maggie Chan was just awful, either her voiced was dubbed over or she is just a terrible actress but her scenes were awkward. Stallone was average, not up to his previous Rocky and Rambo performance and Jason Statham was well, Jason Statham. Overall, you do not watch the movie for the acting.

Special effects: 7.0/10- A lot of the CGI effects are obviously fake, but they worked well enough to keep the movie fun. The blood and gore effects are a big improvement over the first movie in terms of both believability and amount. While I do not consider myself a “gore hound” by any means, I do like my violence in action movies, and The Expendables 2 delivered.

Soundtrack: 7.2/10- The soundtrack was actually quite good and fitting for the movie.

Humor: 8.6/10- While there are not laughs throughout, the movie is basically self aware, with characters saying things that reference each other’s movies. The Chuck Norris scene is an instant classic of ridiculous hilariousness, and Arnold and Willis have great dialogue that fans of their movies will love.

Overall: 7.6/10- While The Expendables 2 does have some noticeable flaws, it is exactly what we expected and wanted it to be: a fun, action-packed, and horribly clichéd movie, but in the best way possible. If you are a fan of any of the actors or 80s action movies, do yourself a favor and watch The Expendables 2; it is a blast.

Closing comments: Come on, how could John McClaine (Die Hard), The Terminator, and Rambo in the same movie not be awesome?

Recommended for: Action fans, Fan of any of the actors, 80s action movie fans,

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