THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Life can be thrilling for a lot of people. If it isn’t for you, then you’re probably not one of The Expendables.
PLOT
The film follows a group of elite mercenaries who reside in New Orleans. The team includes: leader Barney Ross, blade specialist Lee Christmas, firearm specialist Hale Caesar, military veteran Gunner Jensen, demolition expert Toll Road and martial artist Yin Yang. Their rescue mission in Somalia almost goes smooth because despite rescuing hostages unharmed, Gunner would get discharged for instigating a firefight. When coming home, Lee would reunite with his girlfriend Lace (Charisma Carpenter), but would be disappointed to see her with another guy named Paul (Hank Amos). Her reason comes from how their connection is lacking, especially with the fact he doesn’t talk about his line of work. The following day, Barney has a meeting with former coworker Trench Mauser (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and government agent Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) for another contracted mission. The mission involves overthrowing a brutal dictator named General Garza who has control over a small island in the Gulf of Mexico dubbed Vilena. Trench passes the offer and allows Barney to take it due to claiming to be busy. Ross goes there with Lee and meets up with a local contact named Sandra who shows them around to look over the situation. It goes awry when they get made by Garza’s soldiers who recognize her as the general’s daughter. Barney and Lee would abort, only to wipe out a high amount of Garza’s forces on the way out at a pier. Sandra would choose to stay, which would only result in her captured by her father. When returning to the states, Barney & Lee would share what they discovered to Yang. Garza is not the only one in charge but is in cahoots with ex-CIA agent James Munroe, who keeps him in power as a figurehead for his own profiteering operations. Gunner would also meet Munroe at Vilena and selfishly offer to help stop Barney before he can officially act on the mission. Back home, Lee would discover Lace to be the victim of physical abuse by Paul, in which he retaliates by beating up him and his friends at a public basketball court. Barney would reach out to his friend Tool, retired mercenary turned tattoo artist, about wanting to save Sandra she could be killed by her father. Tool would then share how he had failed to save someone during one of his last missions. This would inspire Ross to go to Vilena alone which he informs Lee and Yang personally, but the latter chooses to accompany him. Before they could even go, they get ambushed by Gunner and a handful of armed men. They defend themselves long enough to take out the hired guns and when it came down to Gunner, they crash into an abandoned warehouse. Gunner would almost kill Yang in a fight, until Ross intervenes by shooting him in the shoulder. Having instantly regretted his actions, he chooses to quickly makes amends by giving away the layout of Garza’s palace. Upon boarding the plane, Lee is present with Caesar and Toll Road who refuse to let Ross go alone. When they reach Vilena together, they plant explosives all over the area as Barney rescues Sandra from her confinement. He then gets stopped by two of Munroe’s henchmen, Paine and the Brit (Gary Daniels). His teammates are able to have his back by killing the Brit and most of the forces around them. Ross would fight Paine long enough before he retreats with Sandra. Believing Munroe hired Ross to kill him, Garza decides to stand up to him and order him to leave. Just when he rallies his forces, the ex-CIA agent kills him and plans to escape with Sandra still as a hostage. Barney and his team would fight their way out as well with the use of the planted explosives to detonate. Caesar would help Barney destroy a helicopter Munroe would use to escape, while Toll Road kills Paine. Barney & Lee would then finally catch up to Munroe to kill him and save Sandra. Before leaving, Ross would give her his mission reward for her to restore the city. Once back to the states, the team would celebrate with Tool at his tattoo parlor, with Gunner recovering from his wound. The film would end with Lee outperforming Tool in a game of knife throwing, throwing his bullseye from outside the building.
THOUGHTS
I’ve been a sucker for action films since I was a kid because I know the genre can deliver on being pure entertainment. Sylvester Stallone succeeds in bringing that to the table once again in the director’s chair. The editing is well done because you get a good look on how wild each sequence gets. The climactic shootout in the palace was indeed dope, but my favorite sequence of the whole film has to be the island escape that includes the dock explosion. It’s not everyday you see something like that. Other scenes like the truck bed chase that transitions to the warehouse fight or the simple basketball court scene, they’re all impressive to see in their own right. The reason I why I keep going back to this film and its array sequels has to be its central theme on how if you know you can do something about it, go for it and don’t look back. That is the whole point of the group of protagonists because they know they can still make a difference and take every given chance that comes their way. Thanks to an impressive ensemble, their presence is all the more memorable. As an actor, Stallone is a strong lead for making Barney a compassionate leader who takes part in each mission because it's the right thing to do and is brave enough to do it every other week. If that doesn't define a hero, it's hard to imagine what else can. Having said that, he leads one of hell of a team who follow in their footstep to keep fighting until there is no enemy left. Jason Statham is arguably a favorite of mine from the group because he puts Lee in a realistic predicament compared to the others. He'll get along with those he works with, hence having a strong bond with Barney, but wants to have something to go back to. He found comfort with Lace because he didn't have to be on guard 24/7. He didn't want to tell her what he does because he didn't want to scare her with the fact he might not come back from the next job. When push came to shove however, he does so to be the protector she wasn't expecting and he predictably proves it when taking on a group of six guys without any weapon besides his bare hands. The simplest things are good to appreciate. And you add the fact how good he is with a blade is an understatement because he looked better than he should. My dad enjoys movies starring Jet Li, so it was quite a delight to see him be part of this team up. He stands out here way more here compared to the sequels because he has the chance to show what Yang is all about. It's a given to point out how great he is at martial arts, which he proves against Gunner, but what I liked a lot about him was how his height difference makes him work harder than he thinks he does. He sees it as an disadvantage, but it's clear that it's more of an advantage as time passes and I'm sure he picked up on it during the sequels. Every team has a wild card and Dolph Lundgren was quite the guy for that as Gunner. With the implication the character was battling substance abuse, it was shown his decision to be vulgar was a way to express how unclear his conscience was at that point. Since he is a veteran, it made a lot of sense for him to feel that way because no one is guaranteed the same after war. Being discharged and being on the opposing side against Ross was his unexpected wakeup call because he needed something to make a needed change. Thankfully, Ross cared about him enough to graze him rather than kill him like he knows he could. Seeing him celebrate with the others definitely showed he was where he wanted to be mentally and it was gladdening to see him keep it up when the franchise progressed. I totally dug Terry Crews as part of the fold because he made Caesar one who was arguably the life of the party. He comes off like that because he's able to appear optimistic on the outcome and delivers with his contribution in a big way. Seeing him shoot up the enemies with an AA-12 was insanely great because I had never seen a weapon like that before and he used it to perfection. UFC legend Randy Couture was a random choice to join the cast because he didn't that much acting credits beforehand. Nevertheless, he fit int very well with the role of Toll Road. He's the most dry humored, which isn't a bad thing at all because that drives him to keep his head in the game. And it clearly worked as it helped him eliminate Paine in epic fashion. One character I wish stuck around long after yet made a fair impact here was Tool. Mickey Rourke gave this unexpected heart to the film because he's a character who has his regrets and chose to retire with his services to stop making the same mistakes. He expresses this to Barney when it came to sharing of failing to save someone he could've. It comes off as cringe because of how detailed of the moment he shares, but it backs up how he doesn't want Ross to cope with the same demons he has. Since his biggest hope is to die alongside a woman that could be his soulmate, I like to believe his absence in the sequels symbolize that he found the one. In action movies like this, you gotta have villains easy to hate and this one delivers on that end. Stone Cold Steve Austin sealed the deal in making Paine a cruel henchmen that relishes on the people he hurts. The soullessness when he punches a captured Sandra proves just that and when Toll Road sets him on fire, that was a satisfying defeat. His boss on the other hand was another story because Eric Roberts makes Munroe a greedy guy who will make money however he pleases and doesn't care what he would do for it. David Zayas however does a good job showing Garza who doesn't really think he is in the wrong. Garza's benevolent, but his actions come from wanting to make Vilena stronger than it looks, but his allegiance is what ruined the vision and didn't realize it until it was too late. Had he done things different, such as not get involved in drug dealing, maybe Vilena would be a safe haven. The lack of optimism he lacks is passed on to his daughter Sandra. Giselle Itié shows her to maintain confidence in saving the only home she has and is willing to put herself at risk. Barney chose to go back for her because he admired her beliefs and didn't want her to die if there's a chance to do what her dad failed at doing. Although he never seemed to visit her often as the sequels would show, I'm sure he still thinks about her every now and then. He never pursues her intimately because like Lee, he doesn't want her to cope with how any mission would be the one he wouldn't come back from. But I don't doubt if Ross got to relive his life and had the opportunity to do things differently, he probably would. For now, at least he got to be there for her when others wouldn't. This movie is hella fun, but I still think there are things that could've made it way better. For starters, how is it that in the opening scene there were still backup lights when we saw Barney's team shoot up every light they saw? Breaker or not, that should've not happened and the team should've just kept shooting with the high ground. If that continuity error wasn't upsetting enough, I'd have to point out how Lee's camera doesn't appear to be recording like he claims because there's red light or time to indicate it. On top of that, Barney never even closed the door after jumping on the plane, only for the next scene to show it closed. With all the adrenaline he's feeling to escape, I doubt he did it before attacking the pier. Moving on, how the hell was Gunner sure to find a bad guy like Munroe when all he had off of Barney's intel was the map of Vilena? If he was asking around where to meet whoever runs the island, I mean that is the definition of a long shot. I also don't see the point of him being allowed inside the building if he wasn't gonna surrender his gun. I then find it ridiculous for Barney to think anyone that isn't Munroe to have sent hired guns alongside Gunner to take him out. Yeah he made a lot of enemies in his line of work, but it's not like anyone would brush off surviving a pier attack. That throws me off more than the fact we see it intact by the time he leaves in the climax. If it's a whole other pier, somebody please clarify because it's gonna keep confusing me until I can figure it out. Ignore this, then you'll still be having as much fun as I have. In short, The Expendables is a standard action film that delivers with its handful of exciting shootouts/fight sequences and the right actors to embody the badassery you expect from such characters. If action is up your alley, check this out when you can.
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