“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…
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-
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-
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