The Expendables

I'm a child of the eighties, but I was born too late to see films like Rambo, Rocky & The Terminator; these weren't the kind of films my parents watched but even I was aware of who Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis were.  They are the action movie icons, they symbolise the big Hollywood films filled with explosions and raining gun fire.  So it was no surprise that the announcement of The Expendables caused a collective fan boy orgasm.

Building on the success of Rambo (2008) Stallone has given his audience what they wanted, so much testosterone spilling out the screen I refuse to believe you could finish watching it not feeling more of a man.  They're grumpy, muscle bound, brick walls of men; except Jet Li as he likes to keep reminding us he is very small.

The plot is your standard action fare, a group of elite mercenaries take on a job to overthrow a Latin American dictator but things are not as simple as they seem when it becomes clear that the actual target is a former CIA agent turned bad, bad man.  It's fast paced, slowed only by the needless inclusion of a sub plot that sees Jason Statham trying to win over Cordelia from Buffy (does that woman never age?  That's some impressive botox).

Acting wise nobody is going to win an Oscar, but they gel well as a team and the comradery comes across as genuine; this film was obviously a lot of fun to make.  Stallone, Lundgren and Rouke have an unspoken competition over who has the most weather worn face, with Stallone winning through sheer amount of skin to skull ratio.  I would have like to have seen more interaction between Statham and Li, having seen their previous collaborations they make a good team.

There are some awesome action scenes with a brilliant face off between Austin (these wrestlers get everywhere!) and Stallone, Crews provides comic relief when it all kicks off with his AA12 automatic shotgun.  Explosions, buildings collapsing, extras flying off in all directions and an impressive array of weaponry.

Live action Call Of Duty took a lot of organising

All in all this film lived up to its hype, yes it's brainless violence and an excuse for the older generation to show they can still stand up to the new generation of action stars.  As for "that" scene; Arnie, Sly and Willis all cosying up in a church, only one thing popped into my head...  How painfully thin is Arnie now?  But it comes across more as a school reunion, you know the type where you're forced to talk those people who pushed your head down the toilet during break.

I enjoyed it, from the first scene it set itself up for what it is... Guts and glory.  It's definitely a gun show you want front row tickets for and as the credits roll the song is correct, the boys are indeed back in town!