Jason KingTHE EXPENDABLES 2: A Review on Salty
August 29th 2012 10:12
:
Nice work Benny Boy
Huge thanks to Benny Boy (and great mate Steve) for attending this one in my place, reviewing it and keeping the Salty Popcorn alive. Love you guys!!
When you step into a film with this many iconic action heroes, you know you are in for a treat. You know that you are going to see action. Action that will have you applauding, laughing and exchanging looks with your movie companions which can only be translated to- "Boy that would hurt" and "Man it was cool". In my opinion, "the Expendables 2" was on the whole better than the initial instalment of "The Expendables". With a more impressive cast, more blood, more tongue-in-cheek humour and more cameo appearances. My favourite cameo appearance will be a worthy surprise and have the audience clapping and laughing. No spoilers here!
The cast of action heroes and villains that feature in this movie say it all- Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Jason Stathom, Jet Li, Jean Claude, Dolph Lundgreen, Terry Crews, Randy Couture- just to name a few. Adding to this, a noteworthy role by Australian actor Liam Hemsworth (of The Hunger Games) sees some awe-inspiring head shots that would make the sniper inside of you jealous.
The first scene of the film pulls you in and pumps you up, with high-energy violence and over-the-top action. It revs you up, straps you in, and sets the standard for the high-energy momentum of the entire film. There is no lull between action scenes, with the dialogue building momentum as a segue to the next fight. The scenes between the action are also a respectable nod to past action movies, with pop culture references acknowledging the older members of the audience in a way that only 'old-school' actors such as Sylvester Stallone could manage to do.
The flavour of "Expendables 2" is a mix between "Rambo" and "Die Hard" mixed with "Rambo 4" and "Die Hard 4", with a sprinkle of "Death Race". Only in this film would you see a motorcycle used to annihilate a helicopter and a line-up of cars that make any male viewer desire the wealth to acquire such a collection! As in"Rambo" and "Die Hard" hold your disbelief. Yes the impossibly large guns being held while driving, the heroes pulling off precision shots and the villains struggling with impossibly easy targets; may be unbelievable- but that's half the fun. As are the seemingly unbelievable body proportions of the key actors in comparison to your everyday male, with my movie companion gasping about Terry Crews - "His arm muscles are human torsos."
A personal disappointment was that Jet Li played only a minor role, however his fight scene was one of the best of the film and his jokes were witty as always. Another small bother was that the leading female action character (Nan Yu) has not yet made her mark in the action world of Hollywood. It would have been great if this role had been played by a recognisable female action star such as Lucy Lui or Uma Thurman. That being said, Nan Yu did a great job and was almost flawless in the role, with the memorable line-"I also love Italian food" - making sense once you see this film!
I give this movie a 9/10 for those that are in need of an over-the-top action blockbuster with guns, violence, fighting and blood. So bring the boys, get a large popcorn combo, sit back and enjoy.
When you step into a film with this many iconic action heroes, you know you are in for a treat. You know that you are going to see action. Action that will have you applauding, laughing and exchanging looks with your movie companions which can only be translated to- "Boy that would hurt" and "Man it was cool". In my opinion, "the Expendables 2" was on the whole better than the initial instalment of "The Expendables". With a more impressive cast, more blood, more tongue-in-cheek humour and more cameo appearances. My favourite cameo appearance will be a worthy surprise and have the audience clapping and laughing. No spoilers here!
The cast of action heroes and villains that feature in this movie say it all- Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Jason Stathom, Jet Li, Jean Claude, Dolph Lundgreen, Terry Crews, Randy Couture- just to name a few. Adding to this, a noteworthy role by Australian actor Liam Hemsworth (of The Hunger Games) sees some awe-inspiring head shots that would make the sniper inside of you jealous.
The first scene of the film pulls you in and pumps you up, with high-energy violence and over-the-top action. It revs you up, straps you in, and sets the standard for the high-energy momentum of the entire film. There is no lull between action scenes, with the dialogue building momentum as a segue to the next fight. The scenes between the action are also a respectable nod to past action movies, with pop culture references acknowledging the older members of the audience in a way that only 'old-school' actors such as Sylvester Stallone could manage to do.
The flavour of "Expendables 2" is a mix between "Rambo" and "Die Hard" mixed with "Rambo 4" and "Die Hard 4", with a sprinkle of "Death Race". Only in this film would you see a motorcycle used to annihilate a helicopter and a line-up of cars that make any male viewer desire the wealth to acquire such a collection! As in"Rambo" and "Die Hard" hold your disbelief. Yes the impossibly large guns being held while driving, the heroes pulling off precision shots and the villains struggling with impossibly easy targets; may be unbelievable- but that's half the fun. As are the seemingly unbelievable body proportions of the key actors in comparison to your everyday male, with my movie companion gasping about Terry Crews - "His arm muscles are human torsos."
A personal disappointment was that Jet Li played only a minor role, however his fight scene was one of the best of the film and his jokes were witty as always. Another small bother was that the leading female action character (Nan Yu) has not yet made her mark in the action world of Hollywood. It would have been great if this role had been played by a recognisable female action star such as Lucy Lui or Uma Thurman. That being said, Nan Yu did a great job and was almost flawless in the role, with the memorable line-"I also love Italian food" - making sense once you see this film!
I give this movie a 9/10 for those that are in need of an over-the-top action blockbuster with guns, violence, fighting and blood. So bring the boys, get a large popcorn combo, sit back and enjoy.
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Comment by The Rusty Can
Everything
Sounds like my kind of film
Cheers!
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Comment by K @ the Lair
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness