With the first Expendables movie, Stallone made an entertaining, visceral action film - influenced by the movies both Stallone and his co-stars made popular throughout the 80's and 90's.
In my opinion, The Expendables represented the last in Stallone's trilogy of re-emergence, beginning with Rocky Balboa and Rambo. These three films (all written and directed by Stallone) reaffirmed his status as a major talent.
For The Expendables sequel, directing duties have fallen to Simon West, director of Con Air - an action extravaganza with another notable ensemble.
For me Con Air represented 90's excess in all it's explosive glory! Hot on the heels of The Rock, Con Air aimed to replicate that films earlier success (and may well have surpassed it in box office receipts), but failed to deliver an engaging story.
With the first Expendables movie, Stallone went some way to achieving the impossible - and created memorable characters, despite his larger than life cast. The most obvious example being Dolph Lundgren's, Gunner Jensen. Gunner went on a noteworthy journey from good to bad and back again (even cheating death along the way)! Gunner's arc represented the darker side of life as a mercenary - resulting in Lundgren's best ever performance!
Unfortunately Gunner is given less to do in the sequel. In fact, all are given less screen time - undoubtedly due to it's expanded cast of characters.
Character traits have spilled over from the first film - the signature fighting style of each principle character remains intact. These traits aren't really utilised beyond the opening skirmish however - with many an automatic weapon instead taking precedence.
When we do get a close-quarters/beat-em-up scene, it's shot mostly in darkness - West opting instead for silhouettes and a lot of smoke (in an effort to make things more stylish perhaps)?!
Stallone's previous showcase may have been blunt (and brutal), but at least you could see what was going on!
The Expendables 2 relies heavily on it's cast, but fails to deliver an engaging (or even cohesive) story. Character development is replaced by a barrage of one-liners, while audiences are left to figure out where certain characters have disappeared off to?!
Despite my disappointment, there is fun to be had. The cast are very watchable - with the film coasting along on their presence alone.
I've got a lot of time for Stallone and fans will feel his influence in an otherwise cringe-worthy script (he takes a co-writing credit here).
A third film is apparently being developed with Nicholas Gage and Wesley Snipes as possible additions to the series. Here's hoping Stallone returns to take charge of his platoon of Expendables - both in front of the camera and behind it!
3/5
Poster image courtesy: www.traileraddict.com
For The Expendables sequel, directing duties have fallen to Simon West, director of Con Air - an action extravaganza with another notable ensemble.
For me Con Air represented 90's excess in all it's explosive glory! Hot on the heels of The Rock, Con Air aimed to replicate that films earlier success (and may well have surpassed it in box office receipts), but failed to deliver an engaging story.
With the first Expendables movie, Stallone went some way to achieving the impossible - and created memorable characters, despite his larger than life cast. The most obvious example being Dolph Lundgren's, Gunner Jensen. Gunner went on a noteworthy journey from good to bad and back again (even cheating death along the way)! Gunner's arc represented the darker side of life as a mercenary - resulting in Lundgren's best ever performance!
Unfortunately Gunner is given less to do in the sequel. In fact, all are given less screen time - undoubtedly due to it's expanded cast of characters.
Character traits have spilled over from the first film - the signature fighting style of each principle character remains intact. These traits aren't really utilised beyond the opening skirmish however - with many an automatic weapon instead taking precedence.
When we do get a close-quarters/beat-em-up scene, it's shot mostly in darkness - West opting instead for silhouettes and a lot of smoke (in an effort to make things more stylish perhaps)?!
Stallone's previous showcase may have been blunt (and brutal), but at least you could see what was going on!
The Expendables 2 relies heavily on it's cast, but fails to deliver an engaging (or even cohesive) story. Character development is replaced by a barrage of one-liners, while audiences are left to figure out where certain characters have disappeared off to?!
Despite my disappointment, there is fun to be had. The cast are very watchable - with the film coasting along on their presence alone.
I've got a lot of time for Stallone and fans will feel his influence in an otherwise cringe-worthy script (he takes a co-writing credit here).
A third film is apparently being developed with Nicholas Gage and Wesley Snipes as possible additions to the series. Here's hoping Stallone returns to take charge of his platoon of Expendables - both in front of the camera and behind it!
3/5
Poster image courtesy: www.traileraddict.com
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