• Home
  • Meetings
  • Events
  • Blog
  • E-Board
  • Around Boston
  • Join
Northeastern University's Film Enthusiasts Club
.

Kunal Asarsa on The Expendables 3

8/15/2014

0 Comments

 
“Age is only a state of mind”, as the old saying goes. The cast of The Expendables 3 seems out to prove that with the latest addition to the action movie series.  Lets see if they succeed with their mission…
Picture
Let me start by introducing you to the concept of The Expendables with a quick revision. The Expendables are a team of armed men who are trained in battle, each one with their special skills and for some reason also past 50 years of age (which seems to be a prerequisite to apply for the team). This team of veteran fighters are the go-to team for government agencies’ black deeds and missions they don't want in official records. “We walk in. We sweep the floor. And they get the credit”. Now without a lot of connection to the previous two movies, except for the continuing cast, the third chapter is about an operation that goes bust. After rescuing a former Expendable, Doc (Wesley Snipes) from captivity, Barney (Sylvester Stallone) leads the team into a mission in Mogadishu, Somalia. The man they are sent to capture turns out to be Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), another former Expendable who was thought dead but is now a rich arms dealer who goes by a different alias.

The failed mission leaves Caesar (Terry Crews) fatally injured and puts a question on the capabilities of the increasingly older squad (mind you, Stallone may look fitter than 99% of the human population but he is now 68!). So with an old aide/fiend now resurfaced and little push from new boss Drummer (Harrison Ford), Barney makes it his personal agenda to put Stonebanks down and starts to assemble a new team of young-blood. With the this team failing to help Barney seek vengeance, he is forced to team-up with his original crew (whom he was trying to protect by not bringing them to a suicide mission) for another attempt where the crew proves that they may be old but not ready to quit the game.

“So is it interesting? Well-scripted? Suspenseful? ” you ask. Let me tell you, if story is something you are worried about, you certainly are at the wrong place. Expendables has always been a high dose of action with a sometimes decent story holding together the crazy rain of bullets. That said, the third chapter in the series is actually a slight improvement over the previous two when it comes to the writing material. It has a decent but not particularly original plot of a mercenary carrying out a personal vendetta and teams building a family like die-for-one-another bond. But what is most interesting is that it seems that after two movies, Stallone (the creator of series) has almost come to accept the movies for what they are. There are brash characters, cliche jokes, cheesy lines and more but it feels gung-ho when you know what to expect from the movie.

With the ever expanding cast of Expendables (apparently this series wants to have every action hero who ever lived, on-board), it is impossible to cover them all and remind you where you last saw them, but I guess the poster (top) should jog your memory. That leaves just one thing to discuss: the action. It is bigger, more explosive and I’m quite sure now covers around more than three quarters of the 126 minute runtime. Why is that good? Because by the time you are able to ascertain the credibility of one stunt, a second one is thrown at you. So you can pretty much shut your mind and simply enjoy this endless loop of action.

Whether The Expendables 3 will succeed at capturing the interest of people new to the series remains to be determined. But it does give a reason good enough for the existing fans to go back for one more episode from the diaries of the Expendables.       

Like: Non-stop action , Antonio Banderas

Not so much: That non-stop action is only thing is has to offer

Grade: B-
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    AJ Martin
    Andy Robinson
    Anime
    Anthony Formicola
    Anu Gulati
    Arjun Agarwal
    Arzu Martinez
    Ben Garbow
    Brandon Isaacson
    Brian Hamilton
    Carter Sigl
    Dan Simeone
    Discussion
    Elizabeth Johnson Wilson
    Eliza Rosenberry
    Emily Fisler
    Erick Sanchez
    Eric Tatar
    Essays
    Festivals
    Gabrielle Ulubay
    Haley Emerson
    Here's Some Movies
    Ian Wolff
    IFF Boston
    IFFBoston 2015
    Interviews
    Isaac Feldberg
    Kunal Asarsa
    Library
    Lists
    Marguerite Darcy
    Marissa Marchese
    Mary Tobin
    Meghan Murphy
    Mike Muse
    Mitch Macro
    Neel Shah
    Netflix Instant Watch
    Parth Parekh
    Patrick Roos
    Profiles
    Reviews
    Short Films
    Television
    This Week In Movies
    Tyler Rosini

    Want to Write for Us?

    Contact NUFEC President Ian Wolff at nufecblog@gmail.com if you're interested in writing for this blog!

    Archives

    April 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.