Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

The Expendables
2010
**
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis

The Expendables are a group of battle-hardened mercenaries. Their latest mission is to assassinate the corrupt leader of an imaginary South American island Vilena, but things aren't quite as straightforward as that. This action movie is a throwback to the 1980s, when the good guys were good, the bad guys were bad, the men were manly, the women were helpless, the music was loud, and the explosions were big. The cast includes a number of stars from the yesteryears and the 60-something Sylvester Stallone gets to show off his action chops and impress a girl young enough to be his granddaughter. The film is dumb fun in the first half, but the last 30 minutes of overkill wore me down completely. Thanks to the choppy editing, it's difficult to tell who's who. Followed by three sequels.