Corky1984 Review of The Expendables

The Expendables (2010)

Provides a welcome care home for 80s action stars

[3 September 2010]

There was a lot of hype before this film and that's hardly surprising given the stunning cast list. Stallone, Statham, Li, Schwarzenegger, Willis, Rourke, Lundgren...the list goes on. OK, so a few of those big names were only cameos, but so what? The first scene in cinema history featuring Sly, Arnie and Bruce was full of in-jokes and set the rest of the film up nicely. The plot was a run-of-the-mill nasty general/CIA rogue get taken down by a team of hotshot mercenaries, but that's fine by me. The film had plenty of old-school action and didn't take itself too seriously. There were some great laughs to be had from the interplay between Stallone and his co-stars, especially Statham. Stallone himself is showing his age a tad, with plenty of veins and stretched skin making him look much older than his co-stars, but there's no doubt that he can still hold his own on screen. I would have preferred a full-blown 18 rating, to match Rambo IV's excellent levels of carnage and mindless violence, but there was still a good dose of firepower on display. They could easily make a sequel, ideally with Schwarzenegger taking on a proper role once he's finished playing politics.