The other night I attended a private screening of The Expendables. Yes, I am a little late getting to the dance for this Box Office smash from Sylvester Stallone, but better late than never. Oh, and by private screening, I mean that I was the only one there. Not surprising as it isn’t expected to be out of the theaters soon as it nears the end of its theatrical release. Too bad. It’s a great film.
I can’t say I am a big Stallone fan. I never “got into” the Rocky movies. Not my cup of tea. Didn’t get into Rambo, but I might give that series a view sometime now that I have seen The Expendables. On the flip side, I did see Deathrace 2000, which I should get on DVD sometime. That was early Stallone.
The Expendables is a blast. Literally. There is enough pyrotechnics in this film to level a small, island, banana republic, which the good guys manage to do. Action galore, bullets and knives flying, as well as fists, feet, and, thanks to the various weaponry and explosives, miscellaneous body parts and blood. Yeah, lots of graphic violence. I’m not big on that, but, hey, this is a testosterone loaded Man Movie.
One of the cool tools that Stallone and his group of elite mercenaries use is a tripped up (meaning heavily armed) Albatros. This baby has machine guns and a fuel dump which they use to fry some of the bad guys in the aforementioned banana republic during a hasty departure after a bungled recon mission.
There really is a lot to like about this film, and I enjoyed it immensely. It is also a veritable “who’s who” of the great action films from the ‘80s and ‘90s.
Remember the A-Team from the ‘80s? The Expendables is what The A-Team would have liked to be.
There are some very insightful moments into the souls of Stallone and his crew. Great performances turned in by everyone involved. Dolph Lundgren was delightfully menacing as Stallone’s buddy turned traitor, and Terry Crews, their heavy weapons man, could have used a bit more screen time. Jet Li was also darned good, and some banter between him and Stallone provided a bit of comedy relief during a running gun battle.
From a technical standpoint, there are a few issues, like, with the running gun battle in the States, one wonders where the heck are the cops? But there is only so much you can do in a movie that weighs in at a bit under 2 hours and not screw up the pacing.
The word out now is that there will be a Director’s Cut on Blu-ray next year. So if yo missed it in the theaters, then be sure to check it out when it is released for the home theater.
