What makes a good film? Is it the immersive plot where audiences can escape the confines of reality in order to indulge in a fictional (or non-fictional) wonderland , or maybe a great film is one that thrills to the exploits of the audience causing them to cry, laugh or cheer. A truly brilliant film is one that is able to achieve both these factors, in the case on the Expendables 2 it seems to have dismissed the plot, yet perfected the latter.Posing as an outright action film, with what seems as a lack of focus on anything but explosive violence,a poor plot is something to be expected of .Armed with a new recruit in the form of Liam Hemsworth ,looking more like a high-school heartthrob than a so called 'expendable', the team of veterans return for what should be an easy job, only to discover their plans going disastrously wrong. Leaving them with a bitter taste in there mouths. Straight from the off, before this story even begins to unfold, we are introduced to the team through a spectacular 15-minute action sequence, 'signposting' exactly what the audience is getting in for. From what seems to be from the mind of an 8 year old boy explaining his ambitious Christmas list, the opening sequence includes a ridiculous array of 'boys toys' from Aeroplanes to Hovercrafts. Of course all of this equipment appears spontaneously at the convenience of the team, as characters suddenly disappear and return 10 minutes later either on foot, in an aeroplane or as seen later in the film, in a gargantuan bulldozer. Thousands of poorly trained soldiers stand conveniently unprepared, simply waiting for a well choreographed fight scene to knock them out cold.
This totally excessive, contrived opening scene paves the way for a whole feature film of preposterous occurrences, that are left in the dark with a lack of explanation. However from a film which clearly poses as a silly action flick, surely the story shouldn't be something to scrutinize? Although at times throughout the film, the dialogue and character persona's created for some scenes of laughable sincerity, it is pretty clear that this film did't take itself seriously. Perceived as a mockery/homage to 80's action film's embracing there over indulgent set pieces and laughable one-liners, maybe a little too much. Due to this film's utter ridiculousness, the audience soon learns to embrace these corny one-liners along with the nonsensical yet brilliantly choreographed action sequences. Still remaining however is this underlying plea for this film to be taken seriously, appearing especially from the character of Liam Hemsworth. As occurrences progress through the film and plot's are uncovered, a more sentimental side is seen, which is simply touched upon, then revisited at the conclusion in a pitiful 2 minute scene which the audience simply doesn't care about, because of the flippant atmosphere that the film created.The 'over the top' sinister head-splattering action, soon becomes laughable and is often followed by a magical one-liner, providing for a surprisingly successful comedic approach. However this doesn't excuse the poor screenplay within this film, no matter how many comedic lines are inserted, some solid dialogue is needed in order to move the story along. The problem lies with this cheesy dialogue. Whenever a serious sentence is strung together, it's nearly always followed by a cutting one-liner, which usually makes no sense at all! As the 'plot thickens' and intrigue sets in, this begins to get extremely frustrating.
Quality of acting within this film can't truly be measured due to the stupidity of the screenplay, however some performances were worth noting. From a man who was once the center-piece of action, with his 'over-acting' and physical intimidation has now deteriorated into an ineffective source if laughter. Arnold Schwarzenegger lacks the evident screen presence he once possessed throughout his reign of 80's blockbusters. On the other hand his action counterpart, Chuck Norris, remains to posses the style he has always had, with the unfortunate lack of his expertise in martial arts.
The Expendables 2 is an action film for action fans, and rarely tries to be anything else. Embrace the absurd plot, the sickening action and the laughable one-liners. What more could you ask for from the greatest action heroes of all time?
60%- Fun fuelled, adrenaline pumping excitement...just don't go expecting a best picture nomination.
Calum Russell
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