THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2012) - Movie Review

Director: Simon West
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Scott Adkins, Nan Yu, Charisma Carpenter
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Writer: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Wenk
Runtime: 103 min
Rated: Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), 4K Ultra HD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory and up against an unexpected threat.

Review:

The dream team of 1980s/1990s action stars is back in the outrageously entertaining sequel "The Expendables 2". Sylvester Stallone stepped aside and let Simon West ("Con Air", "Tomb Raider") take on directorial duties on this one, and it's really for the best. Part 2 looks better, is more tightly paced, with much better action and has its tongue firmly in cheek.

Stallone, Jason Stathan, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews and Randy Couture reprise their roles from the first film, while Jet Li is only around for the action-packed opening. New additions include Liam Hemsworth as a younger member of the expendables, Nan Yu as a tech expert the team is tasked with protecting, Chuck Norris as the mysterious Booker, and a pair of vicious villains played by Scott Adkins and Jean-Claude Van Damme.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis also return with bigger parts and this time around they actually get to take part in the action while also trading meta barbs with Stallone. Despite never appearing together on screen before the Expendables movies, the three of them founded the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain in 1991, while Stallone and Schwarzenegger also had a highly publicized rivalry.

The movie has a nice flow to it, moving from one impressive action set piece to the next, with brief intermissions to set up the next narrative steps and give the characters some opportunities to interact. It's a flimsy story, but who cares ? The dialogue is still clunky, but somewhat less so than in the first film. It manages to get away with more than you'd expect because the tone is more self-aware and self-referential. For example, Jean-Claude Van Damme's bad guy is named Jean Vilain. Get it ? Villain, Vilain ? That's the kind of "subtle" humor you can expect from the movie, but it is undeniably part of its retro quirky charm.

All in all, "The Expendables 2" is a much more playful movie than its predecessor, and has a clearer idea of what it wants to be, digging into the iconography of its stars. It's the best of the four-movie franchise, but unfortunately it's all downhill from here.

SCORE: 7/10