Really Surprised!

Pretty Good

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Well, the meaning of "The Expendables" franchise is like a sort of a wet dream from the Generation X, which during the peak of the action movies in the fabulous 80's decade, were devoted fans in the line to the theater or to the near videostore to watch / rent the latest effort from this bunch of guys. 80's action films symbolized the freedom of speech in an Era who wasn't politically correct to the use of violence on-screen, an Era of true action heroes with attitude always delivering sarcastic & witty on-liners when facing the danger. After the global success of the first movie, Stallone this time just a co-writer, called Simon West ("Con Air", "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider") to the director's seat to concentrate only in leading this all-star cast and perhaps, minimizing and controlling the major egos involved. "The Expendables 2" truly delivers over-the-top action non-stop, well- staged fight scenes with less shaky cam (an improvement over the original), flashy editing, a frenetic pace and cool props. The plot is basic & cliché, but at least, it's self-indulgent and goes forward straight to the business. The bad thing is, even more than the first, this movie lacks heart and soul. It's too much focused on the action sequences: shootings and killings all around (like an out of control video game), things blow up and are destroyed to the ground every 5 minutes and the actors involved act more like mere walking caricatures than fleshed-out characters. In a matter of fact, this sequel looks like it was all directed by the 2nd Unit and the majority of the exteriors, shot somewhere in Eastern Europe, and the extensive use of CGI to emulate the gunshots, the blood and the explosions, gave a sense of cheap with unpolished visuals to the whole, almost entering in the DTV territory. Most of the on-liners and references to the popular culture of the 80's action movies, immortalized by this guys in their peak, simply doesn't worked here, it was forced and intrusive, like if they tried too much to be self-aware and cool, turning it in almost a spoof movie. Some of the delivering is even awkward and the jokes' cringeworthy.Despite this, Sly once again did a good job as the Team's Leader, Barney Ross with Jason Statham as the second-in-command, Lee Christmas, who was even more annoying and full of himself than in the first film; Randy Couture as Toll Road, with a limited number of spoken lines to accommodate his acting 'skills'; Terry Crews as Hale Caeser, which at least was funnier than the rest; Jet Li as Yin Yang, only in an extended cameo at the beginning and we must thank his scheduling conflicts for that and the last, but not the least, 'Swedish Strangler' Dolph Lundgren as Gunner Jensen, who almost stole the first movie and maybe because of that (he must have irritated the attention seeker, Jason Statham), he was given less to do this time around. Charisma Carpenter reprises her role as Christmas' girlfriend in a tiny part that if you blink, you'll miss her on-screen and Nan Yu is OK as Maggie, in a good casting decision on opting for her instead of the terrible Gina Carano.It's nice to watch Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis doing more than a talkative cameo and this time shooting up bad guys, but their hearts aren't there. Arnold besides being lame with his tongue 'n' cheek remarks at least he tried, Bruce was just there for the quick paycheck, in a "send me a couple of millions and i'll sleepwalk through the movie" mode.Chuck Norris, who fares better than Arnold and Bruce, came out of retirement to play John Booker nicknamed "Lone Wolf", a homage to his characters in "Good Guys Wear Black" ('78) & "Lone Wolf McQuade" ('83), but even with his entrance song, the production messed around, "Ecstasy of Gold" by Maestro Ennio Morricone is an iconic orchestration for Clint Eastwood's The Man With No Name, not for Chuck Norris and the King Cobra joke was taken directly from the 'Chuck Norris' Facts' on internet, so nothing new or imaginative here. Liam Hemsworth, a fill-in character for Mickey Rourke who refused to comeback for this sequel, is nicely presented, but the minute he talks that he wants to leave the team, is a token for "i will be dead very soon". The casting of Hemsworth had a double function: to call "The Hunger Games" fanboys to the theaters and to give "The Expendables 2" a feel of "The Avengers Assemble" co-starred by Liam's older brother, Chris as Thor.The baddies played by Jean-Claude Van Damme, who was very good as the sneerie and arrogant Jean Villain, and Scott Adkins, who shamefully he isn't even in the main cover art, if were given more screen time, both would probably steal the movie from The Expendables themselves. The end fighting sequence between Villain and Stallone's Barney Ross is one of the movie's highlights, reminiscent from Van Damme's character in "Black Eagle" ('88) where he also played the main baddie.In short, "The Expendables 2" is a good way to spend a hour and a half, like a trip to memory lane, watching this guys in action and reminding us about the hundreds of hours we spend watching and re-watching their action flicks in the videostore days, but as a movie it's just a so-so experience, that wants to please the Gen X, but in fact was technically and visually aimed at the Generation Y.It got an extra point just because of the ensemble cast, but it deserves less...

If you thought the first Expendables was awesome, then wait till you see this! The Expendables 2 has more guns, more bullets, and action and of course Real Manly Men doing what Real Manly Men do best, blow stuff up and shoot guns! Which is exactly what this is, There's barley even a story lol. This film was awesome! I give The Expendables 2 a 8/10

First off, Van Damme is the consummate douchebag! Chuck Norris can't act to save his ass! Being in an infomercial with Brinkley is proof of that. The jokes are corny, acting is cheesy and the explosions are standard fare. It's the PERFECT movie to 1) Smoke some weed in front of 2) Screw someone in front of 3) Smoke some weed and screw someone in front ofAdd in Wuce Brillis and his shiny head.... damn.... did I just do heroin?As always, Jet Li is fun to watch because his boyish look and voice make it even more charming, his small stature makes him interesting and really, watching martial arts is like watching Dance Fever at 78 speed anyway! How can you not love the choreography? It would make Nina from Black Swan jealous! The BEST thing about these Expendables films is when I watch them with a female by my side, she is NEVER distracted by the action on screen whilst giving me head, so they have their place.If Jesus comes back and sees these, he's gonna say "Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they do".

The first "Expendables" film was a "tale of two halves": The first half is a jovial get-together of some of the greatest on-screen action heroes of all-time. However, after a rather strange speech by Mickey Rourke, the film turns really serious and loses much of its built-up energy. In the case of "Expendables 2", however, the wise-cracking "buddy" formula is in place all the way through and it makes it much easier to enjoy from start to finish.For a basic plot summary, "Expendables 2" brings the old gang of Stallone, Statham, Li, Crews, Lundgren, & Couture back into a caper involving stolen plutonium. This time, however, the group is joined by Liam Hemsworth and Nan Yu. Along the way, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger stop in to beef up their roles from the original, while legendary action icons such as Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme also have important roles. A lot of bullets are expended, a lot of things explode, and a lot of biceps are strained.Noticed how I didn't mention any actual character names above? That is exactly by design, as in this film franchise all the actors are essentially playing caricatures of themselves (or at least of their former on-screen personas). That is actually what makes the formula work so well, as back in the 80s all these guys were "competing" with each other, and now they are all on screen together! The one-liners and male camaraderie are almost worth the price of admission alone.Why "just" three stars as a rating, then? Well, depending on your taste in movies, you may like this one a lot more or a lot less. I'm not a huge fan of pure-action flicks, but at the same time I loved seeing "the old gang" get together, so I could enjoy this one (if not at 4 or 5-star levels). If explosions and gunfire are your cup of tea, however, then this one will jump a star or perhaps even two.Overall, "Expendables 2" is a step up from the original that uses a looser, more comedic tone to keep audience interest. Though not personally a huge fan of "action extravaganzas", I will come back for "EX 3" if it is made.