The Expendables 2 starts as ace sniper Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) tells his boss Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) that he wants to leave the Expendables, a team of tough mercenaries who are for hire & take on dangerous jobs that need lots of firepower. Ross accepts his decision, however later that night the sinister CIA man Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) orders Ross & his team of expendables to carry out one last job for him, since Church can have them all jailed for life or killed Ross has little alternative but to agree. A plane has crashed with some extremely important cargo locked in a safe on-board, it's up to Ross & the expendables to find, retrieve & deliver the cargo back to him before it falls into the wrong hands. The mission at first seems easy & all goes well but after finding the cargo Ross & the expendables are ambushed by the sadistic Villain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) & his men who steal the precious cargo & kill Billy the Kid leaving Ross & the rest of the expendables swearing vengeance...

Directed by Simon West who I guess was a decent enough choice after turning in enjoyable enough big budget fare like Lare Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) & the excellent Con Air (1997) which still remains one of my personal favourite OTT action films (Nicolas Cage should be in The Expendables 3... while we're at it how about Wesley Snipes & Kurt Russell too) this is a direct sequel to the highly enjoyable old school action film The Expendables (2010) & while I didn't think it was quite as good The Expendables 2 is still a lot of fun & thankfully doesn't abandon it's violent action film roots. The first twenty odd minutes & the last twenty odd minutes are brilliant, action packed, funny & highly entertaining & it's a slight shame that the intervening hour is a little dull & empty. The major problem with The Expendables 2 is the lack of a substantial story, there's very little here & what is here is merely there to hang the action set-pieces off. It's hard to think about the character's as individuals rather than the actor's that play them which is also maybe doesn't help, that's the one great negative though & the killing of Billy the Kid & the revenge mission that ensues takes a backseat to the action, the egos & the one-liners so be prepared for that. The script is nicely nostalgic, it gives the main cast plenty of opportunity to throw in several gags & references to their earlier films & well known one-liners in an amusing & playful way but never in a derogatory mocking sense. At about 100 minutes long The Expendables 2 doesn't outstay it's welcome & your never far from the fight, shoot-out, one-liner or explosion.

The likes of Bruce Willis & Arnold Schwarzenegger get much bigger roles this time around although Jet Li is only there for the opening fifteen minutes, I suppose we should be grateful a compromise was struck & he came back at all as he has said he wants to quit Hollywood. New action film star additions to the cast include the legendary Chuck Norris who seems very game to live up to his reputation (the Cobra gag is hilarious) while Jean-Claude Van Damme is still in very good shape unlike a few of the other's as age catches up with them but to be fair the fact they are all in such good shape at their age says a lot. Jason Statham is great values as always, his sole fight scene in a Chapel is fantastic as are all the action scenes, West manages to bring scale & excitement to things while never confusing matters with shaky hand-held camcorder crap & quick editing. This is the way action scenes should be shot, loud, violent & great fun, the hilarious scene with Schwarzenegger & Willis in the little car is worth watching the film for on it's own. 80's & 90's action fans starved of that type of film over recent years should definitely get a kick out of it.

With a supposed budget of about $100,000,000 The Expendables 2 has great action scenes & plenty of star power, during the 80's & 90's who would have thought all the top action film stars of the day would team up? Filmed in China & the US but mainly in Bulgaria. I liked the performances here, everyone seems to be having fun although I wasn't impressed with new female team member Nan Yu who has little to do & gets lost amongst the egos.

The Expendables 2 is a great old school action film, full of violence, gun fights, explosions & senseless death & destruction. What more do you want? Apart from a story that is. 80's & 90's action fans should lap it up, I did. Apparently The Expendables 3 is already in production.

Now I enjoyed the original Expendables for what it was but I was felt disappointed in the outcome because of the way it was hyped up and I felt a lot of things could have made it better, and that things were missing. Now years later, watching the Expendables 2 and not having as such high expectations I went into the film excited and thrilled for surprises. I also did not read any reviews or check critics ratings upon watching. I found this to be greater than the original for many reasons. The plot was more focused, the characters were more detailed (we got to like them more),and mainly because of the more well directed intense action scenes.

The film is separated into two parts. The first 45 or so minutes showing their plans on where to go. Focusing on Billy (Liam Hemsworth),and roughly the second half of the film is of course where we see his departure. Maggie steps in and takes a major role. I found both parts solid, yet the second half more interesting simply because we see the characters mesh more, and Arnold, Willis, and Chuck Noris get larger roles providing well in dept action and fight scenes.

This is one of those few exceptions where the sequel is better than the original. The Expendables was quite serviceable in my opinion, but it never really lived up to the potential of what could have been with the dream team cast it touted. This time however The Expendables take on a whole new attitude. The violence is more non stop and well delivered by the camera shots, there are more fight scenes, shootouts and the final battle fight between Stallone and Van Damme. However one thing I could have done with out is the several references to past 80's action films (Arnold saying "I'm back!/ Yippie- Ki-yay/Who's next-- Rambo!", etc). Mainly because his delivery was flat. Other than that, the Expendables 2 is a solid action thrilled popcorn film and delivers for its time being. We will see how the Expendables 3 turns out!

The mercenaries are back! And if the response from the box office is stellar, I suppose The Expendables can build upon a formula that's established through the two films to date, that somehow follows how James Bond would have done it, with its longevity inspiring similar treatment. There's the opening big bang action sequence, followed by Bruce Willis' shady CIA operative Mr Church coming on to provide Barney (Sylvester Stallone) and his team a challenge they cannot refuse (by way of blackmail). Technology and weapons go down to bare basics with loads of guns, knives and brass knuckles, with room for a female companion somewhere, against a mob boss played by somebody well known.

The Muscles from Brussels Jean-Claude Van Damme had agreed to step into the shoes of the villainous boss called erm, Villain, and shows he still got the moves with his signature roundhouse kicks. His plan is to make billions through mining weapons grade plutonium from a mine mapped out by the CIA, and together with lackey Hector (Scott Adkins),snarl in cocky fashion for the most parts, with Hector doing most of the dirty work of enslaving villagers to do their dirty bio-hazardous work. I guess egos got put aside when both got signed on to play villains amongst hundreds of faceless goons who are plain fodder when the Expendables come knocking, no thanks to a personal vendetta being set up early in the movie, giving Barney just cause for tracking, hunting, then killing.

Don't expect The Expendables sequel to be any brainier than the original of course, since nothing is cerebral here, and anything that exhibits a little bit of ingenuity, or brains, get mocked at. Just look at how Dolph Lundgren's Gunner Jensen got treated throughout as a mad scientist equivalent. It's really all about the bigger the guns, muscles and explosions, with the first scene establishing just how our heroes would plough through their adversaries - with ease like hot knife through butter. There's plenty of CG blood, gore, decapitations of various appendage done in a myriad of styles, they're all dumbed down to somewhat cartoony violence - where no matter what the faceless goons throw at The Expendables, nothing sticks, with vice versa accuracy the other way round. You may balk at scenes involving high caliber weapons literally ripping through a hole in someone's body or blowing up heads to smithereens, but it's the way the heroes become executioners, all without remorse.

Directing duties are given to Simon West, and in all honesty, he ensured a better way to shoot all the action, that is a leg up from how Stallone decided to do it, which was a blurry mash of clashing bodies in extreme closeups. Here we get to see who does what, with some incredible stunts filled with movie logic loopholes, you'd fare better if you leave your inhibitions at the door, and enjoy this action film for what it is. The screenplay by Richard Wenk and Stallone doesn't leave any room for character development, except for the continued buddy bromance between Barney and his right hand man Lee Christmas (Jason Statham). And their crew also got pared down with Jet Li appearing in just the first two scenes, with the team made up most of the time by Barney, Lee, Gunner, Hale (Terry Crews) and Toll (Randy Couture),with Yu Nan replacing Li as the token female and Chinese character who balances brains, guts and brawn.

What this outing now had, is plenty of jokes. It doesn't pretend to be what it's not, and junks seriousness, ever willing to trade in laughs at every opportunity. There are enough corny one liners here, and action set ups, that parody the action careers of Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger combined, the trio whom most audiences are really here to watch gracing the same screen together. And let's not forget good old Chuck Norris as Booker, with a tip of the hat going in the direction of the countless of Chuck Norris jokes that get a leg up when told by the legendary man himself, with his Booker having a reputation of being much of a lone wolf, coupled with a knack of appearing when needed, and given the abilities of all his action film roles combined.

The story centers on a vendetta to be settled between The Expendables and Villain, and being a personal one too, with a handful of emotional scenes for Stallone to flex his acting chops a little. In what would be an uncanny coincidence, Stallone himself had to battle personal loss during the promotional tour of this film with the passing of his son. Despite having his crew made up of veterans of action roles past, Stallone continues to show that he has a fun-filled, violent action franchise that's picking up traction, and has enough legs to warrant more films to come, especially when more names like Snipes and Eastwood have been bandied around as potential inclusions. Action fans, this is something that you won't want to miss, especially if you've grown up in the 80s and 90s!