Expendables 2

Expendables 2

Rating 8.5 out of 10

This is a movie I have been waiting for.  I liked the first Expendables movie while admitting it was lacking.  These movies have testosterone  by the train car full.  Virtually every bad ass action star in the last twenty years was in Expendables.  Anyone they forgot they picked up for Expendables 2.

Returning from the first movie was Sylvester Stalone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Terry Crews, Randy Couture.  Expanding their cameo roles was Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis.  To add some female kick ass they brought in newbie Nan Yu. For some young blood in comes heart throb Liam Hemsworth.  Playing a great bad guy we get Jean-Claude Van Damme.

The movie actually has a complicated and intricate plot... Oh, who am I kidding.  The basic plot was probably written on a cocktail napkin at a Stalone party.  Good guys go into China to recover a secret file that was in a safe when a plane went down.  The file shows where the makings for nuclear bombs were buried by the Russians.  Why would these be in a plane flying over China?  Who cares.  Did I tell you Chuck Norris is in the movie too.  When Van Damme makes the mistake of killing one of the crew he opens the whole can of whoop ass.  Now it's time for the Expendables to hunt him down and make him pay.

How do you know who the good guys are?  They of course are the ones standing in the middle of everything killing bad guys by the dozens (literally) without hardly a scratch.  The best thing Expendables 2 does is poke fun at itself.  It doesn't take itself too seriously which could easily turn into boring hokum. Several laugh out loud moments.  My biggest complaint was at just under two hours the movie wasn't long enough.  With so many action stars there scenes had to be cut to less than I'd like to see.  I guess they are saving something for Expendables 3 which will probably be out next Summer.  They will have to knock these out quickly before Stalone or one of the other aging stars breaks a hip or something.

I show a little age with this one when Chuck Norris pops out to help the good guys and my 15 year old wonders who that is.  Seriously?

If you watch this trailer and think it looks like a fun time at the movie then you should make your way to the theater.  Lots of blood and things that go boom so it's not for everyone.  The wife won't bother seeing this one.  I think I'll go see it again.