Stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jean Claude Van Damme, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Nan Yu, Scott Adkins, Jet Li with Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chuck Norris Directed by Simon West The Expendables return, albeit with a smaller team and some fresh faces, and the action remains as over-the-top as you might expect given the line up of action superstars on call this time around. Sylvester Stallone still leads the pack, and given the nature of the film, he takes things a little too seriously unlike, say, Jason Statham or Jean Claude Van Damme or even Bruce Willis. Statham is the king of the action movies these days, and you get the sense that despite this being just another paycheck, he knows how to enjoy himself, even with one highlight set-piece. Van Damme gets the benefit of playing the villain named Vilain (really) and does it with some gusto. It's been a long while since he's played the bad guy and he adds some interesting quirks to this character. Between the big three, Willis is the one who gets that what goes on in the film is meant to be an over-the-top fan dream of action heroes banding together, and he plays it tongue-in-cheek, coming across far more relaxed (and cooler) than Stallone or even Schwarzenegger who appears to be over-enunciating his dialogue. Still, having the big three share the screen again is something to savour, especially since it's more than the glorified cameo of the first movie. Many a catch-phrase is traded, sly references are dropped in as are certain pop culture references, particularly with Chuck Norris, and if you know what you're looking for, every typical cliche is dragged out kicking and screaming. It's more gun action than hand to hand, what with Jet Li opting to make an early exit, leaving the more brutal showdown to Statham and upcoming action star, Scott Adkins (who will be appearing in Universal Soldier - Day Of Reckoning alongside Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren). Director Simon West manages to wrangle the stars, but it's more Stallone's show this time around, and everyone else is pretty much in guest star mode. There are a couple of quiet moments just to spread the story out, but its the action set-pieces that count and there are many. The plot is simple enough, starting with a couple of retrieval jobs, the last which turns south and it becomes something of a revenge track the rest of the way, with a slight detour that wouldn't be out of place in a war movie or even a western. In all though, there is nothing very much you can expect out of this, staying just one step ahead of your typical cable action movie. At least, it's a shade better than the original, although that one had the benefit of seeing some showdowns among the stars.
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