I was just looking through my reviews of the past Expendables series and I'm surprised to see that my reviews kept getting better with each movie. The Expendables started with 4/10, The Expendables 2 with 5/10. And The Expendables 3 was the best one of the franchise yet.
Sylvester Stallone, this time with a new writing partner in Creighton Rothenberger (who wrote another decent action movie Olympus Has Fallen), came back with a third screenplay for the franchise and seemed like he got the hang of it.
Stallone's wise decision-making didn't stop there as he recruited director Patrick Hughes to take charge this time. I'm not familiar with Hughes' work but he has been charged to direct the remake of The Raid - a full-on, badass action flick - so he must know something about directing a good action movie.
But the best thing about this new cast was that we're finally getting some heavy hitters of Hollywood, and I don't just mean the big names but the big names that can really act.
First one we saw was Wesley Snipes. He came in and immediately sparked up the screen. He brought the right kind of attitude to his character, and with his snappy quips he quickly lighted up the screen amongst the somewhat stale ensemble of the franchise.
Who doesn't love Harrison Ford at the moment? With him going back to play Han Solo after denying that role for decades, everyone's waiting to see that happen next year. And his appearance in this movie was definitely a fun one.
Kelsey Grammer was another great addition to the fold. Him and Stallone shared many great moments onscreen, and with his acting chops, he brought a different level to the bunch.
As Mel Gibson slowly makes his way back to Hollywood, this is the first time I've seen him in a movie ever since he came back. And my god, was he on form. He was the best part of the movie because his antagonist offered so much that, like Benedict Cumberbatch in Star Trek: Into Darkness, he single-handedly elevated the standard of the movie. When he was caught and on transfer, that whole sequence and dialogue so clearly demonstrated why he was made out to be this dangerous and feared guy.
And finally, the great Antonio Banderas. I had my doubts when I first saw him in the trailers because he now looked old and frail, to be very honest. But I saw what they did with him and he was another best part of the movie. Simply hilarious.
Terry Crews would have been another good addition had he been given the chance to shine, or bust out some jokes. But unfortunately he wasn't.
As for the rest of the newbies, I didn't care much for them. Victor Ortiz was serviceable. Kellan Lutz was surprisingly bearable. The only one which I wished Stallone didn't recruit was Ronda Rousey. This girl couldn't act to save her life. Sure, she wasn't there for her acting chops but at least have someone that wouldn't have taken me out of the movie every time I saw her try to act. Was Gina Carano not available?
Of course, there's no great writing to be found in this one. Though better, the storyline still had loopholes and weak exposition to push the story through. One has to wonder where did all the fodder appear for The Expendables team to kill. A great example was when Snipes escaped on the train, there were a few guards that appeared out of nowhere / insanely clueless as to what was going on, so that Snipes could take them down in style.
I'll spend the next two paragraphs talking about spoilers.
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I was waiting for Arnold to scream, "Get to the chopper!" I wanted it to crack me up. But he only said it in a non-committal way, with no gusto. I was so disappointed.
Snipes' character was heavily underused in the second half. With so much charisma in the first, it was such a waste to not use him again that way. Ford's character suddenly jumped onboard the Stallone train that seemed very out of character. Stallone couldn't have written something better for Ford?
Jet Li didn't throw a single punch. What's up with that? And as for Gibson, the final act didn't show exactly just how dangerous he was or why he was so feared. He had literally hundreds of people following his orders and yet we didn't see how he controlled them. Plus that last fight scene was nothing near a satisfying as the build-up. Obviously Gibson wasn't going to have a convincing throw-down with Stallone, so why not write the last action scene differently?
This installment has finally given me faith. The direction employed in this one finally entertained me properly. Does Stallone have another one in him, to deliver something even better? I hesitantly doubt it but I would welcome another installment should he choose to do one.
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