The Expendables

Stallone, Statham, Jet Li, Lundgren, Rourke, Willis. The cast list says it all. The Expendables is yet another homage to years gone by Sylvestre Stallone, although this time without the reprisal of his own tried and tested heroic roles. While Rocky Balboa and John Rambo sit comfortable in retirement, Stallone gives a debut outing to the veteran Barney Ross (Stallone), surrounding himself with as much specialist battlefield experience humanly possible in the process. Their mission is the seemingly straightforward assassination of the dictator, General Garza (David Zayas), of Vilena- a fictional island in the Gulf of Mexico.

Stallone does his best to create a balance between star attractions and a decent plot, and although the action genre isn't renowned for its intuitive storylines and extensive range of character development, it's not too much to expect slightly more depth behind the advancing the story. For the most part it is merely a standard action film plot, which fits the bill perfectly. During an initial reconnaisance trip to Vilena, Ross and Toll Road (Statham) meet with their contact on the Island, Sandra (Gisele Itié) Ross discovers that Garza is in fact liaising with an ex-CIA agent, James Munroe (Eric Roberts) and his heavies, Paine (Steve Austin) and The Brit (Gary Daniels). Following this, Ross decides to abort the mission, leaving Sandra behind. However, the twist in the tale comes out of nowhere and degrades the whole experience a little. Following his return home, and a speech from Tool (Mickey Rourke), Ross decides to save Sandra in an effort to free himself from any regret. This is disappointing at best, given that there is no hint of soul searching beforehand. What follows is the usual run of the mill rescue sequence, combined with the tying up of the loose ends from the initial mission and proves to be as expected as it is satisfactory.

Much has been made of the cast of The Expendables, with most of the promotional work tying the star value of the cast to the title of the film itself. Whereas this will result in millions upon millions in the bank accounts of all involved, and surely a sequel or two for good measure, the fact is that at times it feels as though there's an opportunity missed, and the cast is not utilised to it's maximum potential. Even though Bruce Willis appears only in a cameo role as the enigmatic Mr. Church, and Jet Li (as Yin Yang) feels a bit left out of the loop at times, the biggest let down is Mickey Rourke, merely a shell of the man that we could have hoped for given his psychotic roles in both Iron Man 2 and Sin City. It would also have been good to see more of Lundgren, although given his menacing and firebrand character he still holds a menacing off screen presence.

Having said that, there's still plenty going on and the cast works quite well together. They bounce off one another, both during the dialogue which is littered with fun one liners, and during the action sequences which vary from the ridiculous to the sublime. And it's those action sequences which make the film what it is, suggesting that if there's one thing Sylvestre Stallone knows, it's how to kill people in style. His range of vision in this field is quite exceptional, whether it's the full on slaughter of an army of troops using his seaplane, a few gallons of fuel and a flare, or the quiet, silhouetted killing of an enemy soldier by a projectile knife. Added to this the overkill provided by an AA12 shotgun loaded with explosive rounds, and the inevitable climax, allows more than enough action to go around. Which is essential really, given the aforementioned lack of a decent plot.

Overall, this is what the film was all about- Top class action with the finest of action heroes. Stallone delivers on that front exceptionally, his action scenes are flawless and the culmination of this is seen in the final quarter of the film, with an amazing siege on the headquarters of General Garza.

Interestingly Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal, the only notable absentees from an all star cast, turned down roles in The Expendables. According to Stallone "they just had different ideas on their careers". One feels that this will be to their detriment, as the golden age shines brightly once more.

Overall: 4/5