The boys are back and all hell breaks loose as PURE AWESOME TESTOSTERONE ACTION hits with The Expendables 2! Sylvester Stallone and his ragtag team of action star mercenaries are back for the kill in this sequel to the 2010 hit, and while Sly isn't back in the director's chair for this one, Con Air director Simon West takes his place and injects more adrenaline, intensity, and machismo into this one than any other action movie fan of the 80's and 90's can endure! You have all the names to lay claim to fame, which in addition to Stallone include Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, and the former Governator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger! So if you have any doubts in place, here's a review for the books to cash in on why The Expendables 2 is bigger, better, and badder than ever! SPOILERS after the jump, so read at your own risk!
Two years after gathering the most dynamic assemble of action heroes ever put together onscreen, Sylvester Stallone does it again with more BANG and TESTOSTERONE put together with the much anticipated release of "The Expendables 2"! As a sequel to the 2010 hit, things begin with Barney Ross (Stallone) and his team of Expendables literally diving into a rescue mission somewhere in the middle east. Once their accounts are settled and they return home, Ross' old CIA contact Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) shows up, collecting up on his debt and forcing The Expendables into another mission to retrieve old weapons. Things go well at first, with new blood added to their ranks in the form of Billy The Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie Chen (Yu Nan). But when things turn sour and one of their own gets brutally murdered by a mysterious man Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and his mercenaries, Ross and his Expendables make things personal - swearing to exact revenge while fighting to save the world.
Given the all-star action cast of veteran Hollywood actors and talents, you cannot go wrong with The Expendables 2, and it's a far better sequel than I would have imagined it to be. There's never a dull moment with Stallone, Statham, Li, Lundgren, Couture, and Crews kicking ass and taking names as the eponymous group that the movie bears the same name as, and they kick things off to a great start on the first act of the movie alone, which introduces how brutal and awesome this sequel is. Given the number of cameos and co-stars that this action flick has, anybody who's a fan of Arnold "The Terminator" Schwarzenegger, Bruce "John McClane" Willis, and Chuck "Delta Force" Norris wouldn't dare miss out on their heroes getting a chance to shoot some guns, look like badasses, pay homage to former roles, and quipping their famous one-liners (which come off as hilarious when you hear the deliveries). It's all played well and settled in to be the best gathering of individuals this planet has ever seen, and while a certain Expendable gets cut from the action early on from the film, you probably won't be missing him too much given all the other talent already present. Liam Hemsworth does well to portray the young gun shooting with the old timers as "Billy The Kid", and Jean-Claude Van Damme, while not looking any younger, still has his kicks and adds intimidation as the bad guy aptly named Vilain. Altogether, the casting is seriously stacked well for The Expendables 2, and it's full of awesome fan delight that's too hard to contain.
Action and story wise, The Expendables 2 shines out more as a film that's better adjusted and well tuned to the strengths of the huge cast on board it. Everybody gets their turn in dishing out the punishment, and there won't be a moment where one of them doesn't get their time to shine. It's impressive enough to see Sly, Arnie, and Bruce - the original bad ass trinity and founders of Planet Hollywood, shooting in the screen at the same time, and I tip my hats off to Simon West for directing a straightforward and simpler adventure to follow that's not as dragging as the last film. Also, the villain is an intimidating force in itself, and with Jean-Claude Van Damme giving his best "Albert Wesker" like look, I'd say the Muscles From Brussels can stand toe-to-toe against the Italian Stallion, Austrian Oak, and Yippee-Ki-Yay man altogether! That's not to say that the other tough guys are left out of the mix, and Chuck Norris appears hear as Chuck Norris should appear - A Lone Wolf Badass. Chuck Norris Fact!
Overall, if you're a product of the 80's and 90's and love action movies, you definitely NEED to see The Expendables 2. It's the kind of film you pay good money to go see expecting big returns, and you'll definitely get your returns via body counts rolling down and bullets straying to infinity! Nothing can be said but awesome things about this action flick, and while the reunion ride is great for all these guys, I certainly hope that if another sequel gets made, they add more familiar faces like Steven Seagal, Harrison Ford, or Clint Eastwood. That would be a real treat, but this will do for now. If you love badass and awesome, there's nothing like The Expendables 2. Time to reload and see it.
Rating - 5/5
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