Movie Review: ‘Expend4bles

Regardless of what you see on the posters, the Expendables movies were anything but ambitious. And of course it was great to be able to bring together action stars of the past decades, such as Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jet Li, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson, and Jean-Claude Van. Dame and Harrison Ford. . Action movies of the 2010s, but movies were never just an excuse to sell tickets based on the names of the actors.

The reviews were rarely good, and the good ones were usually "stupid but fun." It's a new decade, it's been nine years since we last made one of these movies, and all the fun that was the first three installments is sorely missing from Expend4bles.

That number 4 in the title (reminiscent of the dreaded "Fant4stic") could also refer to the number of returning actors. Stallone and Statham lead the team as Barney Ross and Lee Christham, respectively, with Dolph Lundgren taking on the role of the sniper and Randy Couture as the toll-cutter.

New to the team are CIA agent Easy Day (Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson), birthday friend Jenna (Megan Fox) and ex-disha "The Expendable" (Tony Jeowah), the retired son of Banderas' character Galan. (James Scipio). and martial artist Lash (Levi Tran) and Ross's 80s ally Marsh (Andy Garcia).

Unstoppable's ability to spend another night at the bar is challenged by the team led by Rahmat (Eka Uwais). They are trying to steal an atomic bomb, start World War III, and somehow make a lot of money. In fact, Rahmat is only a temporary leader. He actually works for a mysterious boss named Ocelot, whose identity Ross came close to discovering in the 1980s but narrowly avoided. No, the obvious suspect isn't an alibi, the film actually thinks you'll find Ocelot's identity a surprising twist.

The mission to stop Rahmat and Ocelot in Libya fails when Gabon disobeys orders, and the team is forced to move on without him and Ross. Failure is supposed to have dire consequences, but the movie isn't stupid enough to do that. It's foolish to think that audiences will think the movie will continue, but it's not foolish to actually do so.

The rest of the film takes place primarily on a cargo ship, whose deck appears as a secondary arena for laser tag. In it, mercenaries fight against an army of criminals, most of whom cover their faces for unknown reasons. Well, I think I can explain why they cover their faces in the movie, I don't know why the characters do it.

I didn't think the movie would reuse tricks from those series, but the obvious face covering caught my attention. I had to come up with something more complex than a lot of combat and interchangeable shooting.

There's no shortage of things not to like about Expend4bles. The events are boring and trivial, the script is trite, the jokes aren't funny, and the plot twist at the end involves one of the team members committing a completely unnecessary murder. Additionally, the series' greatest asset - its star power - has been significantly eroded. Did the studio really think that 50 Cent and Andy Garcia would replace Schwarzenegger?

"Expend4bles" lost its opening weekend to "The Nun II" in its third weekend, and its domestic gross of $8.3 million still seems like audiences were too generous. Want an exciting group movie? See Phantom in Venice, increased ticket sales can help.

Rating: D-

"Expend4bles" is rated R for violent/bloody violence, language and sex. Its duration is 103 minutes.

Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@nyu.edu.