"Who's next, Rambo?" - Trench.
The team is back with a new mission and a new director. Simon West takes the helm from Sylvester Stallone and proves to be the right choice, as he directs. with more style and fun. The Expendables 2 is a superior sequel in almost every department, leaving a more satisfactory after-taste to its craziness.
On what seems like a routine mission to retrieve a lost safe, the Expendables encounter a team of mercenaries. This team, lead by the hilariously named Jean-Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme), take the contents of the safe for themselves after killing off the team's most expendable member, Liam Hemsworth. From there, Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) sets out on a new mission: stop Vilain from mining enough plutonium to "change the balance" of the world and avenge the death of their young comrade. As a follow-up to the original, the plot is even more simplified, and therefore doesn't waste any time in throwing us into the chaos. In between the multitude of action scenes, there is at least more focus on character development this time around. While not a lot of time is devoted to this, it is nice to get to know the team's emotional side more, as shown when new member Maggie (Nan Yu) talks to Barney about his life as a gun-for-hire. The team is together for a much longer period than the first film, meaning that we get more than what the original promised us, with them all being involved for more of the action.
One massive improvement in this film is the villains. Jean-Claude Van Damme steals this film, with his portrayal of Vilain having the right balance of menace and campiness. He's very unpredictable, at one point walking right into Stallone's line of fire, coaxing him into a one-on-one showdown. Sadly, the final encounter between Stallone and Van Damme is somewhat underwhelming. There's very little payoff to something with a good amount of tension between these characters, though it is nice to see Van Damme perform his famous "helicopter kick" twice. On the side of the heroes, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger return as Church and Trench respectively for more substantial roles: rescuing the team from a trap and joining forces to take down Vilain. Chuck Norris also makes an appearance and, of course, there is a reference to the now infamous Chuck Norris Facts. He too is involved in the the final shootout with Vilain's henchman, which also features a satisfying encounter between Jason Statham and Scott Adkins.
Sadly, the film drags itself to the lowest of the low by including some of the most cringe-worthy one-liners and in-jokes ever heard in a film. The above mentioned Chuck Norris Facts reference was inevitable and it's only mentioned once. However, the rest of the one-liners are just plain awful. Here's the two worst:
Caesar: (Handing Trench his gun) If I don't get this back, your ass is terminated.
Trench: I'll be back.
Church: You've been back enough. I'll be back.
Trench: Yippee-ki-yay.
Lastly, there's a moment where the oh so "hilarious" one-liners ruin a perfectly funny comedic moment. After an attack on a village, the Expendables realise there's only one enemy soldier left. They spot him, turn around in unison, and fire away with everything they've got. What's funny is the amount of fire-power they use just to take down just one guy when a single bullet would have been enough. Straight after, though, Stallone quips the line "rest in pieces", ruining what could have been the funniest part of the film.
Though it's tainted by some of the dialogue, The Expendables 2 is overall a better film than its predecessor. It makes better use of its all-star cast, therefore improving the action in the process. I just hope they bring Van Damme back for more, he's definitely the best reason to check this film out.
Pros:
+ Having the team together for the action throughout the film.
+ Jean-Claude Van Damme as the villain.
+ Bigger and better action sequences.
Cons:
- Disappointing final one-on-one. Van Damme only lands four or five hits!?
- Those awful, AWFUL one-liners and references.
One massive improvement in this film is the villains. Jean-Claude Van Damme steals this film, with his portrayal of Vilain having the right balance of menace and campiness. He's very unpredictable, at one point walking right into Stallone's line of fire, coaxing him into a one-on-one showdown. Sadly, the final encounter between Stallone and Van Damme is somewhat underwhelming. There's very little payoff to something with a good amount of tension between these characters, though it is nice to see Van Damme perform his famous "helicopter kick" twice. On the side of the heroes, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger return as Church and Trench respectively for more substantial roles: rescuing the team from a trap and joining forces to take down Vilain. Chuck Norris also makes an appearance and, of course, there is a reference to the now infamous Chuck Norris Facts. He too is involved in the the final shootout with Vilain's henchman, which also features a satisfying encounter between Jason Statham and Scott Adkins.Sadly, the film drags itself to the lowest of the low by including some of the most cringe-worthy one-liners and in-jokes ever heard in a film. The above mentioned Chuck Norris Facts reference was inevitable and it's only mentioned once. However, the rest of the one-liners are just plain awful. Here's the two worst:
Caesar: (Handing Trench his gun) If I don't get this back, your ass is terminated.
Trench: I'll be back.
Church: You've been back enough. I'll be back.
Trench: Yippee-ki-yay.
Lastly, there's a moment where the oh so "hilarious" one-liners ruin a perfectly funny comedic moment. After an attack on a village, the Expendables realise there's only one enemy soldier left. They spot him, turn around in unison, and fire away with everything they've got. What's funny is the amount of fire-power they use just to take down just one guy when a single bullet would have been enough. Straight after, though, Stallone quips the line "rest in pieces", ruining what could have been the funniest part of the film.
Though it's tainted by some of the dialogue, The Expendables 2 is overall a better film than its predecessor. It makes better use of its all-star cast, therefore improving the action in the process. I just hope they bring Van Damme back for more, he's definitely the best reason to check this film out.
Pros:
+ Having the team together for the action throughout the film.
+ Jean-Claude Van Damme as the villain.
+ Bigger and better action sequences.
Cons:
- Disappointing final one-on-one. Van Damme only lands four or five hits!?
- Those awful, AWFUL one-liners and references.
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