The Expendables

Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, David Zayas, Giselle Itei

Rated R for strong action and bloody violence throughout, and for some language

Grade B

Having grown up in the 80's and being a lover of film, I have a soft spot for movies that included Latin Dictators, excessive violence, predictable story lines, and action stars and not surprisingly, The Expendables has them all. It is no secret that this film is a throwback to all of the awesomely bad action movies of the 80'sand it succeeds to the fullest extent. This is a fun, lout and overly violent film and one can't help but laugh and smile your way through it.

Barney Ross (Stallone) heads up a group of mercenaries that include a group of very talented men, and they all just happen to be some of the biggest action stars in film history. When this group is called in to take down a General who has gained control of a small island, they find that more is going on than they had bargained for. It's a simpled and rather clichéd story line, with little or no back story to any of the characters. It is paced rather well and is full of action from start to finish. What more do you want from a film like this?

With stars like Stallone, Statham, Li, Couture, Lundgren and company, you would expect a lot of action, which you get, but what you also get with that is a lack of acting talent. The one person who really stood out in this group was Mickey Rourke who is surprisingly not included a s much as you'd like. His main job is to add the dramatic element to the story, which he does very well. Lundgren, who I think we last saw way back in the 80's when he starred opposite Stallone in Rocky IV has done nothing to improve his chops. All the while people like Statham and Li do as well as they can. Having said that, I don't go to see a movie like this expecting Oscar winning performances.

What this film does very well is entertain. As I mentioned earlier, it is full of action and excessive violence (is it wrong to laugh when someone gets cut in half by a shotgun?). Each member of the team gets their moment to shine, providing many moments of oohing and ahhing with the occasional cringe. We get to see a couple fun cameos from a few other past action stars which are fun. A highlight of the film is to see the banter between Stallone and Schwarzenegger, which is well written ad quite funny.

Over all, if you are a sucker for films like Commando and Rambo, then this is a film for you. Sit back, smile and enjoy a genre that has been long over-due for a resurgence. And here's to hoping that a sequel gets made so we can see Steven Seagal, Jean Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris.