Review: The Expendables 2 (2012)
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis
Director: Simon West
Country: USA
Genre: Action | Adventure
Official Trailer: Here
Editor’s Note: The Expendables 2 opens tomorrow
Even for all the disappointment The Expendables left us with—and let’s start on the right foot here: it was a lousy, clumsily-written, badly-directed heap of smouldering crap—Stallone’s dedication to his action ensemble idea remains admirable. Ever since using the incredible Rocky Balboa to prove himself yet capable of great things after increasingly farcical decades of action tosh, Stallone has been trying to do for that genre as a whole what he did for his iconic boxer, 2008’s Rambo his first step in bringing back the muscle-bound action men of yesteryear. The Expendables 2 sees him up the ante again, hoping yet more names and yet bigger explosions can iron out the kinks in a formula gone awry.
This Expendables is a far tighter beast, more openly assured in its throwback intentions, and much better equipped to meet its lofty aims.
Never one to not learn from his mistakes, Stallone hands the directorial reins of The Expendables 2 to Simon West, a wise move that thankfully sees the sloppy visuals and badly-staged action of the original tossed aside. West brings with him co-writer Richard Wenk from the pair’s prior project—and also Statham-starring—The Mechanic, who clears up the murkiness of the story in much the same way. Gone, save for a few choice mentions, is the painful romantic subplot of Statham; gone is the awful character Lundgren was saddled with, revamped and renewed; gone are the feeble attempts at overarching dramatic context; gone, most fortunately of all, is the majority of Randy Couture’s dialogue. This Expendables is a far tighter beast, more openly assured in its throwback intentions, and much better equipped to meet its lofty aims.
One of the first film’s greatest disappointments was the culmination of months of hype in an atrociously scripted two minute scene between the biggest action heavyweights the cast had to offer. Having Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Willis standing around making verbal reference to their own legacies through some of the hammiest dialogue in action history was a total misuse of a cast swimming in potential. Here, we get scenes far more deserving of icons this massive, one-liners that actually work as tongue-in-cheek gags, and explosive action that takes us back to the heyday of each of their careers. The Expendables 2 pits John McClane and the T-800 together with some big guns and a smart car, tearing through an airport lounge with unabashed bloodshed. It’s over the top in the best possible way, bowing its head to the spiralling mayhem of the best action movies and giving its audience exactly what they crave, and exactly what they never got two years ago.
There’s a brilliant moment where Stallone and Van Damme stare each other down, the camera alternating between close-ups of their eyes. Crow’s feet and bags abound, but so too does the intense ferocity of men prepared to do serious damage, so too does the firm gaze of legends in their field.
The Expendables 2’s greatest achievement is recognising the ludicrousness of its own existence. Where the first film seemed earnest in its desires to revamp the action landscape, West’s version of events sees everyone acknowledging the cartoony silliness of it all. The crimson tides of spilled blood are doubled, henchman dispatched with giddy zeal and staggering violence as our heroes break out newer and bigger guns to blow holes in their enemies. It’s a shame that new cast additions Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme have been so heavily advertised; had their involvement been kept a secret West’s revelation of them would have been all the more enjoyable. Even expecting their entrance fails to diminish its eventual impact though, Norris’ scene a particular highlight and one of the best examples of the film’s ability to wink at the audience without ever seeming just an action greatest hits selection. There’s a brilliant moment where Stallone and Van Damme stare each other down, the camera alternating between close-ups of their eyes. Crow’s feet and bags abound, but so too does the intense ferocity of men prepared to do serious damage, so too does the firm gaze of legends in their field.
“That thing belongs in a museum,” remarks Stallone of a plane at one point. “We all do,” quips Schwarzenegger. The Expendables 2 is an adrenaline-soaked tour through the museum of action cinema, doing for its own genre what the final third of The Cabin in the Woods did for horror. At last Stallone has delivered on the promise The Expendables seemed to offer and then some, not only apologising for its shortcomings but making them seem almost forgivable. This is a rare example of a throwback tribute that stands on its own legs too, even its dramatic elements—predictably written though they might be—having the desired effect. The Expendables 2 is everything an action fan could hope for, as funny as it is deliriously destructive, as flat-out entertaining as many of the movies it nods its meaty head toward.
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