Rip Rokken wrote:I saw THE EXPENDABLES last night, and it ROCKED!!! I checked RottenTomatoes.com and noticed it only got a 42% rating, but RAMBO never got higher than 36%. I absolutely loved both films and they exceeded expectations. Best I can gather is lots of people just don't get what makes them special, and I found the same to be the case with PUNISHER: WAR ZONE, probably the absolute biggest surprise I'd had in the movie theater in years. I'd heard nothing good about that film all the way back to early script reviews, so my expectations were extremely low. I couldn't have been more pleased -- Lexi Alexander hit the nail on the head with that one, and if people don't get it, they don't get it. It truly was a film for the fans. So are these two Stallone flicks. Neither is B-movie material by any means, but they are both sparse on plot and character development -- strange as it sounds, that's not always a bad thing and it hinges on what the film is trying to accomplish. Sometimes for films like these, those things need to be kept stripped down and simple or they risk becoming distractions.
Especially with THE EXPENDABLES, Stallone concentrates on the testosterone from all angles, and really lets every character in the film shine. It never takes itself too seriously, so there's nothing to do but lighten up, sit back and just eat up every scene. A lot of the coolness and laughs come from all the dick-measuring going on between these action legends, such as Bruce Willis vs. Stallone vs. Schwarzenegger, Lundgren vs. Jet Li, Steve Austin vs. Lundgren (
and Stallone,
and Randy Couture), and Jason Statham vs. anyone who gets in his way. Mickey Rourke was also excellent. Each of these guys is such an incredible bad-ass, and the kills are often so over the top, you can't help but love it. I think I just "got it", just like RAMBO, and came away thinking it was a perfect encapsulation of what it was supposed to be. If anyone says the dialogue is weak, the one-liners fall flat, the plot is brain-dead, or the acting is bad, I think they just aren't getting it. Sometimes these films are more about creating powerful, adrenaline pumping "Hell YEAH!!!!" imagery than anything close to cerebral stimulation. I know it ain't for everyone, but I absolutely loved every minute of it and so seemed the rest of the packed theater.
Another thing that struck me is how young Stallone looked in this film. Grecian Formula, Botox, whatever he's doing -- it works. The dude looks about 20 years younger than he is.
The only criticism I had was that some of the fight scenes were very quick-cut, and I'm not a fan of that style. I know in
some films it's used to make up for poor shots by directors who don't know how to film action convincingly, but Stallone just ain't one of those guys. I'm much more a fan of full action shots where you can really take in the movements, but there is still plenty of "damn that had to hurt!" to go around in THE EXPENDABLES. If you don't see it, you're missing out, and if you're a guy and don't like it, there's something seriously wrong with you.
P.S. -- the trailers were mostly for other upcoming action films, and one that interested me seems to be another similar multi-action star collaboration film called MACHETE, starring Danny Trejo. It also has Steven Seagal and Robert DeNiro. Never would have imagined Seagal and DeNiro sharing a film together. I'll have to see it.
I hope I get something "special" in return for this one.
Not only that, I'm sure they had every bit of testoserone drained from them as well and probably looked like a 50 year old women at that point anyway.
Somehow "woman in mid life crisis trying to find herself" does not translate to a man in any way
