“The Expendables 2” made me have flashbacks of being an action film crack baby. I grew up on film made by Stallone and Van Damme. I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried at the end of “Rocky 2” or spent half my youth trying to do a groin defying split. Yes the action genre is loaded with heaps of garbage that could drown the world in bargain bins, but there are several gems that really highlight the best things about the eighties. Also, many of the things we consider cliché today weren’t cliché back then. Films like “Rambo” and “Lethal Weapon” actually invented many of the set pieces that would later be copied a hundred times over by hacks. “The Expendables” franchise is very much like a tribute to such films. Just like the first one, E2 has a full cast of aging action stars completed with over-the-top set piece and corny dialogue. However the first movie failed in many aspects due to a horrible script and just not being as awesome as it should have been. E2 does a much better job than the first one, but still contains some of the warts from the first movie and the genre it tributes.
E2 is almost entirely supported by its cast and action sequences. The friendship between Stallone’s and Statham’s characters make up the best parts of the movie with a strong contrast of the old and the new. Jet Li has a strong appearance in the beginning and finally gets to showcase some of his awesome martial art skills, but is written off early on and we sadly don’t get to see him again. Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis have stronger appearances but probably have the corniest lines this side of Chuck Norris. Speaking of Chuck, his role is the smallest and corniest of the bunch. They even play the raw hide theme when the camera pans over to him, which is annoying because that theme is famous for Clint Eastwood. The rest of the Expendables team serves their background parts with Terry Crews being the most interesting of the bunch. 
However I will say that Jean-Claude Van Damme does a terrific job playing the cold hearted villain. In fact, my only disappointment with his character is that we don’t get to see enough of him. The action sequences themselves are also better constructed with more creativity and a mark drop is badly done digital effects. E2 is just an all around improvement over the original.
E2 is also the kind of action film where the good guys are perfect shots and every bullet fired by the enemy misses. It destroys a great deal of the tension and might even bring you to the point of rolling your eyes. Most of this, along with the corny dialogue, is stuffed all at the end and does all but ruin what was a pretty good film up to that point. Sure it was predictable as hell, but at least it was entertaining. What saves the film’s ending is the awesomefest that is the final fight between Stallone and Van Damme. Instead of an anticlimactic end to the villain like in the first Expendables, we get a balls-to-the-wall slug fest. It doesn’t top the street fight in “They Live,” but creates a genuine feeling of satisfaction to the conclusion to the film. The overall experience of E2 was just plain good. It’s not Walter White quality meth, but something worthy of getting high on.
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There are too many movies for me to review in full, so I created a twitter account to give brief opinions on the many movies I view. If you wish to read my smart ass remarks, follow M.O.V.I.E. Reviewer @MutantOpossum.
 Sylvester Stallone … $15.00
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 Expendables Tee Shi… $12.95
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 the expendables 2 n… $18.00
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 Expendables 35MM Mo… $2.70
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 The Expendables $10.00
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 Expendables Tee Shi… $12.95
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 The Expendables 2 C… $2.45
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 The Expendables 2 T… $13.99
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