The Expendables 3 (12A) review
There’s something amazingly nostalgic about The Expendables films that seems to just work for a lot of people.
Maybe it’s me beginning to show my age, but a loaded cast full of action heroes from the 1980s and beyond has always been a formula that appeals to me.
Sylvester Stallone? Check. Arnold Schwarzenegger? Check. Jason Statham? Check. Jet Li? Check. Dolph Lundgren? Check.
You get the idea – and when you see those names attached to a film, you’re not expecting anything other than ‘action porn’. And the first two films did exactly what they said on the tin.
You can add Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson, Antonio Banderas and Harrison Ford (amongst many others) to the list this time around.
However, this third slice of Expendables action adds a crop of young talent to the mix, with Ronda Rousey, Victor Ortiz, Glen Powell and Kellan Lutz all added to the team – bringing an element of modern warfare to the table.
As with the previous two films, the above mentioned plot almost plays second fiddle to the stars themselves, but here it is nonetheless.
If you’re new to the Expendables, here’s the briefest of descriptions. They’re essentially a black ops team sent in to do the jobs the American forces won’t. That’s about it, really.
The testosterone-fuelled chaos starts pretty impressively, with the team breaking Doc (Snipes) out of custody. He’s on a train and they use a chopper – nuff said.
Snipes revels in his return to the big time and is the star of the show this time around for me. He even finds the time to poke fun at his recent spell behind bars in real life.
After that a mission goes south, prompting Barney Ross (Stallone) to retire the old guard and form a new team.
He seeks the help of former merc Bonaparte (Kelsey Grammer) and sets off on a mission to recruit younger talent. That’s where he picks up hacker Thorn (Powell) former Navy SEAL Smilee (Lutz), soldier Mars (Ortiz) and the first female Expendable Luna (MMA star Rousey), who is a hand-to-hand expert.
Although none of the young guns let themselves down, they don’t get a massive amount of screen time – and almost serve as a brief filler before the inevitable return of the old guard.
Of the other new faces, Banderas provides the light relief as Galgo, while Ford is as polished as ever as CIA man Max Drummer.
There’s no plot without a bad guy, though. That’s a role Gibson fills pretty well as arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks. He’s made a fortune selling weapons to nameless warlords – and also controls a massive army.
That puts him at the top of the CIA’s hit-list, while Barney and his team have plenty of beef with him too.
As you’d expect, it’s all shoot outs, fights, one-liners and carnage from the outset and plays out pretty much the same as the first two movies.
The new faces add plenty to the party and try to drag the action into the 21st century, but this is a film that still has it’s roots very much in the 80s.
With that in mind, it’s a shame that it has been toned down a little to make the 12A certificate.
Not one for the purist, The Expendables 3 didn’t surprise me at all. But I enjoyed it regardless, which is all you can ask from this kind of film.
Rating: 3/5 (Watched at West End Cinema, Boston)
