Movie Review: St4llone, St4tham Are Back In ‘Expend4bles, Yet Another Expend4ble Sequel
It's a sleight of hand, but given the circumstances, it probably makes a lot of sense. “Gravity is on,” says Barney, the older character played by Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables, when someone asks him how he’s doing.
In fact. "Gravity" is about the movie "The Expendables," whose most harrowing mystery lies not in the secret identity of the mysterious villain, but in how to pronounce the film's title. Should you say the number in the middle of a word or is it just visual? Does this represent a smart reimagining of a tired franchise? Will My Big Fat Greek Wedding F4t be coming soon? Are these questions meant to distract us from the film's surprising modesty?
We may be getting off topic. Obviously this is the fourth Expendables movie, but we don't think you need to have seen the first three to get caught up. Of course, there's no explanatory intro, but if you've seen the previous Expendables films, you know there's not much to know. These guys are indestructible mercenaries who swoop in - literally aboard Barney's turboprop - to do the dirty work in seedy places. The body count is shockingly high (directed by Scott Waugh, the film is rated R again after being upgraded to PG-13 for the final installment). The dialogue is very relaxed. The influx of testosterone causes dizziness.
At the helm, as always, is Barney Ross (Stallone) and his knife-wielding best friend Lee Christmas, Jason Statham, reveling in cockney charm and smiling more than usual. (It's not that bad. Statham has a sweet smile. Maybe that's the only good thing.) Dolph Lundgren's The Shootist and Randy Couture's Toll Road are also back.
And now, perhaps in a nod to the previously unspoken fact that half of humanity is women, we have Megan Fox as mercenary leader Jenna. We'll talk about this again soon. Also appearing are a young Andy Garcia as a CIA officer, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson as a former Navy SEAL and new member of the team, and two martial arts stars: Iko Uwais as the ruthless gunslinger trader Rahmat and Tony Jaa as a quiet warrior. Disha. . Other additions: Jacob Scipio is the son of Antonio Banderas' character from the last film, and Levi Tran is a new chain whip-wielding teammate.
Do you have it all? In the opening scene in New Orleans, we find Barney, now with blond hair and a bad back, so ill that he asks Noel to help him get back his precious skeleton ring, which he lost in a biker bar. At a thumb wrestling competition. The scammers are eliminated, the ring is returned and it's time to get back to work.
We are talking about a trip to Libya, to Gaddafi’s “old chemical plant”, where the aforementioned arms dealer Rahmat (Uwais) buys detonators for nuclear weapons. Marsh (Garcia), the director of the CIA, needs equipment to stop him. Another thing you need to know is that Barney is determined to uncover a mysterious character named Ocelot, who may be holding all the clues.
It's no surprise that consumer products are facing resistance. The death toll rises and then something happens that changes the course of the film. We can't give it away, but let's just say Statham's birthday is placed at the center of much of the film.
But he made an early mistake that put him slightly offside. The next leg of the mission is led by Gina (Fox), his former (or perhaps current?) girlfriend. Jenna is presented to us as only a woman in such a testosterone-fuelled franchise could be: hot and crazy, screaming like Dickens, in a sexy little dress. She also wears an incredible amount of makeup even while on a mission. Apparently there is a brand of matte lipstick that holds up well in a fight to the death. This is appropriate whether your ex-boyfriend shows up or not.
All of this action takes place on board a cargo ship that is storing the aforementioned atomic bomb. There are countless murders, as well as a motorcycle chase (on a cargo ship!) that gets very boring.
It doesn't help that the special effects sometimes seem as elaborate as the script. Some of the more obvious green screens add unintentional comedy. In terms of intended comedy, the only truly funny scene is the one in which criminal Christmas tries to get a job as a security guard for a disgusting social media influencer.
The popular British action star is having a busy year. As mentioned, he smiles a lot in Expend4bles, which is very nice. However, if there is "Expend5bles", they need more than a Statham emoji and another number in the middle of the word in the title.
“Expend4bles,” a Lionsgate release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “strong violence/violence, language and sexual content.” Duration: 103 minutes. One out of four stars.
