Men, they shoot things indiscriminately, have horrible tattoos, fart loudly, and show off big bulging biceps along with their cosmetic surgery. At least that's the world The Expendables Part 2 inhabits. Big guys, big guns, bad puns, and a fascination with killing everything that moves are to be expected in a film of this nature, but this homage to terrible action movies of the past exists as a parody of itself.
Xenophobia has always been a key ingredient of 80s action films, and of course this has it in spades. This film takes off where the first one left off, if anyone can remember it. The guys have bigger guns and bigger muscles, and are primed for dealing death to anyone who dares gets in their crosshairs. Men shoot people from another country, because damn it that's what they get for being different. "Fuck yeah" should've been the title for this movie, and really, it should have been every line delivered, and the plot would've made as much sense.
Expendables part 2 is an ambitious film, with huge star power if it was made in 1987. Self deprecating and never taking itself seriously, it's actually more fun than it ever had any right to be. I laughed throughout the entire film, and even a few times it was intentional. Granted those moments are few, as the movie is so damn ridiculous it's difficult to suspend disbelief, but if ever the phrase "leave your brain at the door" was apt for a film, this is it. There's not a single line of dialogue that doesn't elicit an unintentional laugh, or a groan, but the director didn't seem to give a damn. It's big, it's loud, it's really really stupid, but if you expected anything else going in, I seriously worry about you.
So why did I love this? Well as previously mentioned I laughed more than most comedies, and certainly more than "The Hangover part 2", "Grown Ups", etc. The action sequences, while ridiculous, are well choreographed and visually impressive. Even though I will never see this, nor its predecessor again, I will look upon it fondly for its campy fun.
"Unlike its predecessor, this one recognizes its inherent stupidity and goes all-in on being the loudest, dumbest and most comically preposterous action movie of the summer." - Ethan Alter
1 comment:
Haven't seen this one yet but I really enjoyed the first. Shakespeare it ain't. Well except for maybe that one play where the king hires a ship captain to raid a prison camp in a foreign kingdom and save all the prisoners. Richard III maybe.
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