The Expendables was an awesome throwback to those old-school action movies, but if those movies it paid homage to knew anything, it was that bigger is better. That philosophy was strictly adhered to when the usual suspects got back together to make another Expendables movie. More explosions, more fast-paced action, more humor, and more famous faces are the name of the game in The Expendables 2, a move that only makes things a hell of a lot more fun.
Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and his merry band of mercenaries known as "The Expendables" are still up to their old tricks, chasing paychecks and causing general mischief and mayhem wherever they go. But their relaxation between jobs will be short-lived, because the enigmatic CIA operative Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) is still quite unhappy with how they handled the job he'd given them in the first movie. He offers to forgive their debt and keep them out of federal prison if they'll merely retrieve an item from a helicopter that crashed in the Albanian mountains.
Accompanied by technical wizard Maggie Chan (Yu Nan), the Expendables successfully retrieve their quarry. They're intercepted, however, a gang of thugs led by Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme), an international arms dealer and all-around monster. Vilain forcibly wrests the item away from their custody and absconds with it, but not before mercilessly killing one of the Expendables in cold blood.
This is a tremendously bad turn of events, as it turns out the item is a computer loaded with the coordinates of five tons of refined plutonium that had been abandoned by the Soviet Union after the Cold War ended. And with that much plutonium, Vilain could create more nuclear weapons than military superpower could ever want. Swearing revenge for the death of their comrade and unwilling to allow that plutonium to fall into the wrong hands, the Expendables ― with a little backup from fellow mercenaries Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Booker (Chuck Norris) ― must prepare themselves for an all-out war.
The Expendables 2 provides practically everything I could possibly want in an action movie. It's full of over-the-top action, corny one-liners, and an overall feeling of fun. The movie never once tries to do anything more than entertain its audience with the best thrill ride it could build. And I honestly wouldn't expect or desire anything more out of it. It does exactly what it needs to do, and that's to simply be fun. I'm not kidding when I say that The Expendables 2 was one of the most purely fun movies I've seen in a theater all year.
Sylvester Stallone steps away from the director's chair he occupied during the first movie and lets Simon West take the reins this time around. Considering that West has movies like Con Air and the remake of The Mechanic under his belt, he's not that bad a choice to make when looking for someone to direct an Expendables sequel. And West actually does a great job behind the camera, keeping the movie fast-paced and never once letting it slow down. The movie's adrenaline stays high from the first frames of the movie to the end of the closing credits.
The first ten minutes alone are worth the price of admission, starting the movie with the most high-octane opening sequence I've seen in an incredibly long time. I'd dare go as far as to say that if the movie had ended as soon as this sequence did, it would have been the greatest action movie of all time. Between West's direction (which thankfully uses none of that shaky-cam crap whatsoever) and the well-done efforts of the cast and crew, it's the perfect way to open the movie. It sets the proper tone and really establishes just what kind of movie we're in for.
And usually I'll move along from the direction to the script, but in the case of movies like this one, there's really no serious need to. Credited to Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone, the script has precious little in the way of character development or thought-provoking storytelling. But nobody will be watching the movie for anything like that. All they really give us, all the movie really needs, are a bunch of badass characters and a few shy winks at the audience. These little nods to the audience are full of veiled (and not-so-veiled) references to the past work of some of the movie's stars, and though a couple of the jokes are a little hokey, I never felt like they were forced. The fact that they actually worked a "Chuck Norris Fact" into the dialogue is a little weird, but it was still a tremendously funny gag to throw in.
Last but not least is the cast, which ― like the first Expendables ― is full of big-name action stars and a few lesser-known actors. The entire ensemble is great together, each of whom get their own moments to shine in their own ways. Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham have an amusing chemistry together, making their characters' constant friendly bickering a lot of fun to watch. There are also some charming performances from Terry Crews and Dolph Lundgren, while Yu Nan and Randy Couture are pretty good in their parts. Liam Hemsworth is also quite likable and sympathetic in his role as the new guy on the team.
And while the brief appearances of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Chuck Norris are some of the best parts of the movie, my favorite performance comes from Jean-Claude Van Damme. He plays one hell of an awesome villain, portraying the character as a heartless monster who's cold as ice. Van Damme is playing way against type here, something he should do more often because he's a great bad guy.
So as you've probably guessed by now, I really dug The Expendables 2. I'd actually go as far as to say it's better than the first one. The movie is everything an action movie should be: fun, exciting, entertaining, and action-packed. And I know I said this about the first Expendables, but the only thing that could have made the movie better is if it had been a Golan-Globus production from Cannon Films. That would have made it perfect. Alas, that didn't happen, but the movie is still awesome and gets four stars on my usual scale. I actually heard that they're trying to get Wesley Snipes, Steven Seagal, and Clint Eastwood to appear in a third Expendables movie. If they could accomplish that and find a way to resurrect Charles Bronson, that would be the most awesome thing ever.
Final Rating: ****
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