The Expendables 3 (2014)
Barney, Christmas and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks, who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables -- but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet.
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The first was a trip down 80s nostalgic lane, the second was an improvement and an entertaining action film in its own right. This third instalment has lost its grip on classic action films that charged its predecessors, so much so that even aficionados struggle to find enjoyment in this mindless mess. Barney is up against an adversary from the past, in which he decides to abandon his current team and recruit younger members in order to eliminate the enemy uprising. Aside from the predictable old versus young sub-plot, does the story sound familiar? Is that a resounding yes? Well, you would be right. The exact same narrative structure where the Expendables must defeat the disposable enemy mercenaries from creating global terror which then concludes with a short fist fight with the antagonist before they all grab a pint at the local bar and wait for all this to blow over...! Now, we have horrendous visual effects which include but not limited to: false explosions, disastrous demolitions, helicopter dogfights, Stallone's still face and...wait, that's not visually altered? Oh...anyway, the point is the quality of the acting, action and storytelling has lowered drastically. So low, that it comes across as tired and generically uninspired. Introducing new fresher faces to the team was a good idea, but their chemistry is nowhere near as dynamic as Statham and Lundgren. The cheesy banter was non-existent, it's only when the experienced players come onboard that the entertainment value heightens. Snipes taking a dig at himself for tax evasion, Schwarzenegger shouting "get to da choppa!!!" and Gibson being his usual crazy self, that is when the dialogue and characterisation strives for fun. Banderas was a welcomed addition however, it just wasn't enough to save this generic boring sequel. Mindless fun sure, but the worst in the series by far. Did 80s action films utilise horrific visual effects like these? No. Stop saving money and remain authentic! Otherwise this whole franchise will be expendable.
OK, it's not as dramatic as most of the movies the lead players would play, but it's a bit of fun and I quite enjoyed it. The first was, err sort of ok, the second was cringeworthy, but this was fun. Don't expect any suspenseful, dramatical stuff with a plot, this is just a fun action movie you can enjoy and laugh at.
I almost enjoyed this entry into The Expendables series as much as the first two but in some areas, I felt it fell a little short (but not much). This time around, Stallone introduces 4 younger members to his team as well the addition of Wesley Snipes (who paired up extremely well with Stallone and Sandra Bullock in "Demolition Man"). Overall, I found it as action-packed and enjoyable as the first two but I found Mel Gibson to not be as convincing as the villain as Eric Roberts or Jean Claude Van Damm. Perhaps it's because we tend to associate him too much with the Martin Riggs character in "Lethal Weapon' or William Wallace in "Braveheart". He just didn't seem to come across as the bad guy that well. Overall, it's a really good action film to just sit back and enjoy. I just wish Rutger Hauer or someone of that ilk had played the villain.
After ditching his team as a result of a failed mission, Barney recruits a younger, hi-tech group which will help him get his revenge. Unfortunately, messing with the wrong people combined with the lack of experience will turn the whole operation upside down, leaving the ex-group to play the heroes and save the situation.It's a movie which brings together a huge group of celebrities, making every child's dream become true. To see together actors like Stallone, Ford or Gibson in the same picture is simply awesome, not to mention that there are much more very well-known figures. It's a movie which focuses its whole attention on the action part, the shooting, the explosions and the fast paced scenes, almost forgetting about everything else. Its story is mediocre at most, it's characters are simplistic and not very well outlined, sometimes even making questionable decisions, while its finale is highly predictable. Don't get me wrong, I didn't have high expectations regarding these but a bit more interest regarding them would have contributed a lot to the overall quality of the picture. It's great to see how a couple of people decimate a whole army but you can't create a truly great movie just with this kind of scenes.