Movie review: 'The Expendables 2' – second time's the charm

It is next to impossible to do any sort of proper review for a movie like “The Expendables 2,” a film filled with so many knowing winks, nods and nudges to its audience that, at some point, all you can do is give in to its goofy, testosterone-laden charm. 

 

This isn’t to say that the film doesn’t know or deliver what its audience wants; quite the opposite, in fact. The film succeeds—infinitely more so than its predecessor—precisely because of a conscious decision on the parts of everyone involved to eschew the embarrassing attempts at character depth from the last entry and embrace the ludicrous nature of the base concept, namely, to cram in as many action stars from the last three decades as possible into a single film and have them blow stuff up. 

 

The plot is less convoluted this time out, but no less ridiculous than that of the previous film.   

Barney Ross (Stallone) and his colorful team of mercenaries, consisting of bladed weapons expert Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), hand-to-hand combat expert Yin Yang (Jet Li), volatile genius Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), barrel-weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture) and sniper Billy the Kid (“The Hunger Games’”  Liam Hemsworth) have just completed a successful mission in Nepal when Ross is contacted by shadowy CIA operative Mr. Church (Bruce Willis). 

 

Church is none too happy about the Expendables’ exploits in the previous film, and threatens them with jail time unless they take part in a simple assignment. Accompanying them on this mission is Chinese CIA operative Maggie Chen (“Speed Racer’s” Nan Yu).

 

Naturally, nothing goes according to plan, and the Expendables find themselves up against the appropriately named Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme), his henchman Hector, played by the increasingly-impressive Scott Adkins (“Undisputed 3”), and a small army of unnamed mercenaries armed with five tons of weapons-grade plutonium. Fortunately, Ross and Co. have backup in the form of Booker (Chuck Norris, in all his post-meme glory), and Trench Mauser (Arnold Schwarzenegger, spouting one-liners as though they were going out of style).  

Finally, here is the movie the first “Expendables” wanted to be, an experience more akin to a theme park ride than anything resembling a lick of sense. 

 

Gone are the plodding, ponderous monologues that plagued the first film; in their place is a steady stream of punch lines delivered by a returning cast visibly more at ease with each other. Statham and Stallone retain their easy chemistry from the first film and, this time, Terry Crews and Dolph Lundgren get in a bigger share of crowd-pleasing moments. Martial arts superstar Jet Li makes his presence felt in a short, appropriately bone-crunching fight scene early in the film, while former UFC champion Randy Couture still struggles for something to do in a cast crowded with alpha males.

 

Taking over for Stallone in the director’s chair is “Con Air’s” Simon West, who, if nothing else, has proven himself more than capable of staging onscreen action. With the change in director, returning cinematographer Shelly Johnson has altered his approach from the “Bourne-lite” shooting technique (ie. shakycam edited to the point of incoherence) he utilized in part one, opting instead for a cleaner style that lets the onscreen landscape breathe while giving the viewer a chance to actually see and appreciate the effort and skill put into the numerous action sequences. 

 

The end result is far from perfect, with a still-awkward handling of dramatic beats, shots obviously cropped and enlarged in post-production and, of course, the MTRCB taking all the fun out of some of the more creative kills. Still, all things considered, the end product is miles ahead of what audiences experienced in the first one (where the aforementioned MTRCB even prevented us from seeing how Eric Roberts’ main villain died!) and the film is all the better for it.

 

When it comes to action, aficionados will more than have their fill, with copious amounts of ammunition expended, martial arts match-ups aplenty, and every form of transportation imaginable, from helicopters to jet skis, being thrown into the fray, usually to explosive results. 

 

Refreshingly, with many of the cast performing their own stunts—and most of the budget going to the stars’ salaries and pyrotechnics—CGI is kept to a bare minimum, perfectly befitting the era of action film that many of this film’s leads hail from. Good thing, too, as when the CGI does come into play, it’s of such a laughably amateurish (for a major motion picture) level that it’s only forgivable when taken as part of the joke.

 

As with the first film, the main attraction here is seeing so many of the action heroes of old uniting to face off against a common threat, played here with mustache-twirling relish by Van Damme, who seems to be making up for all those years spent in direct-to-video hell by chewing the living daylights out of every scene he appears in. Whatever fellow action-fest “The Avengers” lacked in the form of a tangible main villain earlier this year, Van Damme more than makes up for here with gleefully slimy abandon. By the time he unleashes his trademark spinning kicks, it’s like the return of an old friend you love to hate.

 

Amid all the conflagrations and fisticuffs, what sticks with the audience is the sheer amount of fun everyone seems to be having; from Bruce Willis’ omnipresent smirk to Booker’s zinger of a Chuck Norris joke, this film is most definitely a product of its time. 

 

Chances are more than likely that, had you not grown up watching these larger-than-life figures, you’ll have no idea why half the things they say and do are so hilarious. Fortunately for the audience, the film is preposterous and it knows it, and it is this self-awareness that makes it a cut above many of the movies it pays homage to.

 

As the box office receipts are tabulated and reviews for “The Expendables 2” come in over the next few days, one can only hope that somewhere, Steven Seagal is watching, because there’s life yet in these old soldiers, and this reviewer would be very much surprised if the powers-that-be weren’t already busy prepping a third mission. –KG, GMA News

Photos courtesy of Lionsgate