Growing up in the glorious 1980s allowed us to fall in love with some of the largest names in the movie industry. We love them and grow with them the way the generations before us love Connery and the Bond character. To watch these guys on the screen takes us back to days when we were younger, more carefree and first became fond of stars like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Chuck Norris.
Although there were many bad reviews on the first Expendables movie, I just thought it was great to see all my favorites performing together in a macho shoot 'em up show. I can't even really recall the plot, but I enjoyed the action that made up the movie. I saw horrible reviews about the type of cinema blood they used, the amount of violence, the lack of great lines... I didn't care. I went for entertainment and got that. I didn't expect something life changing or deeply philosophical so I wasn't disappointed.
So what about the second time around? I was very glad to see that Schwarzenegger had a bigger part. Maybe not by much, but we saw more of him. Stallone felt more engaged as an actor, Norris was hilarious, and Van Damme excelled as the bad guy. Jet Li was not a real strong part of the team and I thought he was more vital in the first movie. And as always, Mickey Rourke is very good at what he does. You can't help but just love them all, good and bad.
Fight scenes were better this time, in movie one, the video felt too close for comfort making it hard to know who was doing what, who was fighting who. I didn't feel quite so mind boggled this time. Being a movie to not take serious, the action and dialogue have improved over the first try for sure.
The locations and sets really worked! They were great choices. But I didn't think the first movie was all that bad in those respects. The sets did not bother me at all. I think that it was the very predictable storyline that I felt was pretty thin in the first one. Here, they did improve on the second, and Van Damme delivered a wonderful villain's performance. As much as I did not like to think of one of my favorites (Van Damme) being the rotten apple, he did come through and showed me that he can play anything he wants to.
So whether you grew up alongside these guys in their prime or you are just getting to know them, know that The Expendables 2 knocked the socks off of their first show, The Expendables. Both movies were fun and reminiscent for me to watch, but I felt they took what the people didn't like from the first one and fixed it for the second. I am looking forward to their third tirade to hit theaters... It could be the best one yet!