The Expendables

The Expendables was a 2010 movie starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Terry Crews as a gang of mercenaries. It also starred Giselle Itie as Sandra, the protagonist's love interest. Eric Roberts played the film's main antagonist,  James Munroe. It also featured the appearances of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. The movie was written directed by Stallone himself, although David Callaham took part in the writing stage. The movie went on to become a commercial success, earning more than 274 million dollars worldwide.

The movie was action-packed, drama-driven, and an overall delight. It followed a gang of mercenaries taking jobs in exchange for money - lots of money. One day they were called upon by "Mr. Church" to accomplish a difficult mission, one that Barney Ross (Stallone) was ready to turn down after scoping the area. However, things changed when he decided to save the girl he met in the island. In between saving his love interest and leading the gang, a lot of sub-plots took place, including the personal life of Lee (Statham). I liked that aspect of the movie. It was intriguing. His part of the story was probably one of the scenes I enjoyed the most.

It was fantastic to see the whole ensemble, especially the three frontmen. Sylvester Stallone has been an action movie icon for decades now. He's the one and only Rambo and Rocky, and he's been an action star probably most recent action stars aspire to be. I grew up watching Jet Li, and I aspired to be like him when I was a kid. Honestly, I'd still want to be an apprentice of Jet Li just to learn martial arts from one of the best. Jason Statham is the modern face of action movies, at least for me. I've probably seen a lot of his action movies, and I haven't been let down by any of it. He has established himself as a modern day kick-ass icon.

Seeing all these three together in one movie is like heaven in a big screen. That's three times the intensity, three times the stunts, three times the enjoyment. Having three well-equipped, and versatile actors gave the filmmakers an opportunity to experiment with different action choreography. I actually liked the action sequences in the movie. They had a lot of scenes to do, and each one differed from the other. Sometimes it's all about hand to hand combat, sometimes they used guns and knives, and for the finale, they used explosions. Each scene was distinct from the others and each scene was a stand out. I guess that's what we get with the Stallone-Li-Statham combination. No, make that Stallone-Li-Statham-Couture-Crews. All five delivered flawless performances.

It was a great action flick. It had a substantial kick-ass scenes, different layers of drama, and a lot of blood. Some scenes were really bloody and violent, especially in the final battle/fight sequence. It wasn't done in a disgusting way, but in a more realisitically-fighting-for-one's-life way. All the scenes were believable, which made the film more enjoyable. Now, all I have to do is wait until August for the sequel. I'm glad they're giving Bruce Willis a bigger part in the sequel cause him being on it will make the movie a lot more exciting.


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