A new generation of stars join the world's top action stars for an adrenaline-fueled adventure in "Expend4bles".Reuniting as the team of elite mercenaries, Jason Statham as Lee Christmas, Dolph Lundgren as Gunner, Randy Couture as Toll Road and Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross are joined for the first time by Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson as Easy Day, Megan Fox as Gina, Tony Jaa as Decha, Jacob Scipio as Galan and Levy Tran as Lash. Armed with every weapon they can get their hands on and the skills to use them, their mission is to retrieve the detonators of a nuclear bomb which is in the hands of Rahmat (Iko Uwais). The Expendables are the world's last line of defense and the team that gets called when all other options are off the table. But new team members with new styles and tactics are going to give "new blood" a whole new meaning.
Others to round out the cast are Andy Garcia as Marsh, Lucy Newman Williams as Russo, Daren Nop as Bok, Cody Mackie as Pavel, Kenny 'Cowboy' Bartram as Anton, Cokey Falkow as Bartender and Dan Chupong Bai.
This was intensely and rivetingly directed by Scott Waugh ("Act of Valor" '12, "Need for Speed" '14, "6 Below: Miracle on the Mountain" '17, "Hidden Strike" '23) plus a short. Even though this filmmaker didn't direct any of the other installments, this franchise has a fairly predictable story. He simply needed to consult with his actors and view some of the other installments to get the true feeling of the characters in this film. His resume certainly screams that he would be comfortable in the director's chair of this film, and definitely succeeded. If you like his style of directing, his "Breakout" and Action Force" are in pre-production. It was written in the similar vein of that of the other 'Expendables' films by Kurt Wimmer, Tad Daggerhart and Max Adams, based on a story by Spenser Cohen, Kurt Wimmer and Tad Daggerhart, which is based on characters created by Dave Callaham. After seeing the trailer of this, I definitely received what I felt I would get--no more and no less. It was pretty much 'good vs.evil' shooting the film in several global locales all the while with its audience cheering them on. Was this made to be an Oscar contender? No. Was it made to showcase fine writing or even acting? No. This was simply produced so those 18-34 year-old single males could escape into and go to a place that will be that much different than their trying lives. And, for that reason, this film succeeded in spades. The writing kept the audience glued to that screen and trust me in saying, they got exactly what they went to that multiplex for. There are some critics out there that believe this was a substandard film artistically. What?! They went to see this film expecting more than what they saw on the screen? Really? I knew what I was expecting, and received it. Did this film have issues? Absolutely, such as it had some continuity issues and was just a bit choppy,but all in all, this film was every bit the film I was expecting. The stunts were amazing as were the special effects.
If you're an 18-34 single male, you will revel with this, but even not, go into the theater and just know that this isn't an Oscar contender or some film with a 'deep' meaning, otherwise you won't be able to have any fun with this flick. It's an escape film which deserves popcorn.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: R 104mins.
No comments:
Post a Comment