THE EXPENDABLES

With Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eric Roberts, Giselle Itié, Charisma Carpenter, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Terry Crews

Written by Sylvester Stallone, Dave Callaham
Directed by Sylvester Stallone

Never before has a bunch of historic action stars teamed up like this. Some would liken it to a has-been reunion, but those of us who grew up on the (often ridiculously violent) action movies of these icons cannot look at it other than a fantastic flashback of explosive proportions.

Having resurrected his Rambo and Rocky characters effectively, Stallone seemed energized to bring many a classic and new action star together for this wild cinematic eruption.

A group of mercenaries led by Stallone only seem to accept jobs where the righteous prevail, like taking out East African pirates. With each character having their own style, weapon choice (from knives and sniping to demolition) and of course, personal problems, turmoil and demons, one of them turns against the crew as they embark on a new mission for a CIA operative to take out a sadistic South American dictator. Here they link up with a woman on the side of the rebels and soon all hell breaks loose.

With a huge body count, death defying acts of machismo (mostly aided by firepower) and lots of splattering blood, they battle all and sundry (some of the key players' soft spots naturally revealed).

A violent but fun ride in the classic tradition of '80s action movie mayhem.

4 / B
- Paul Blom

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Click below for The Expendables 2

A: Multiple Viewing Potential
B: Deserves Another Look
C: Once Should Suffice