The Expendables 2

You’ll be unsurprised to hear that The Expendables 2 pretty much just follows the basic template of the first film, i.e. a wafer thin script, cheesy one-liners and action galore. So, if you liked the first film you’ll pretty much guaranteed to like this one. Of course, the selling point of the first film was the reunification of 1980’s action stars, so for the sequel the brains behind the whole shebang (S Stallone, esq) has roped in a few more names from the glory days. Step forward Messrs Norris and Van Damme. In addition, after the slight con of their minimal appearances last time out, this film also beefs up the parts of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger (though in hindsight after watching their creaky performances here I guess you can’t win either way). Plot-wise this is the classic revenge quest as Stallone and crew seek to take down an enemy who murders one of their own. As Stallone himself memorably barks at one point, “Find ‘em, track ‘em, kill ‘em” is pretty much a good summing up of the last three quarters of the movie. Obviously this isn’t Citizen Kane, but it is an improvement on the first film as a bit more characterisation is introduced and the banter between the protagonists is believable. The film still has the same problem as the previous outing though in the fact that it can’t decide whether it should be taken at face value or as a bit of meaningless nonsense, though there are a few more tongue in cheek gags on offer here, including a nice nod of the head to the “Chuck Norris facts” internet phenomenon. There haven’t been quite so many laughs regarding certain aspects of the production though, during which a stuntman was unfortunately killed and the film crew also being found guilty of environmental damage during shooting. For film aficionados, the most interesting aspect is the choice of Simon West as director. His career has basically stalled since his unwise decision to helm Lara Croft : Tomb Raider over ten years ago and this is his most commercial film since then. The good news is that the skill he showed in handling the bombastic mayhem that was Con Air holds him in good stead here and it was a wise decision by Stallone to hand over the directorial reins to someone who knew how to approach such a production. It was also a wise decision to exorcise in the edit a cameo from tennis star Novak Djokovic in a scene where he attacks terrorists with his tennis racket(!). You need to suspend disbelief when watching this type of film, but surely that would have been game, set and match on any credibility attached to this, no doubt to be continued, franchise.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
For better or worse, this is what it is. Rating: 6/10.