The Expendables 2 [DVD]

This geriatric genocidal shootout amongst old pals, propelled by a mixture of testosterone, big guns, insider jokes, even bigger guns, martial arts and deliberately silly one-liners, is even better than the first instalment. It was clearly conceived as a pure comedy and no matter how hard you try you will not find even one serious moment in it - and I simply loved every second of this tasty treat! Below, more of my impressions, with some LIMITED SPOILERS and also, quite appropriately, some passably lame jokes.1. Characters and actorsAlmost all of the old cast is present also in this film and it is a mighty good thing, but two of the Expendables are nevertheless absent or almost absent. To my considerable regret Mickey Rourke dropped off and it is a pity but I can easily imagine his character from the first part, Tool, being deceased and currently residing in Valhalla, where he enjoys the company of stripper Valkyries, an unlimited supply of mead and ale and especially an equally unlimited supply of sparring partners he can repeatedly punch in the face, without gloves - and they are all plastic surgeons, something that real Mickey Rourke would probably appreciate... Yin Yang, played by Jet Li, appears only briefly and vanishes after first 10 minutes, but - SPOILER here - no, he doesn't die and therefore maybe he will be back for a longer appearance in the third part...The rest of the gang is all here: Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Hale Ceasar (Terry Crews), Toll Road (Randy Couture) and my absolute favourite Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), still as insane as he is gigantic. In this adventure they are assisted by some fresh meat, namely Billy the Kid (no, it isn't a joke), a young veteran of Afghanistan war, played by Liam Hensworth. Later on they will be joined by Maggie (Nan Yu), a sexy CIA operative, who will in this film give Barney Ross an opportunity to be protective to a young lady reminding him of a daughter he never had (exactly as in the first film)...As we all remember one of the best gags in the first film was about the various complicated issues all those characters had in their life: age (Ross), cheating girlfriend (Christmas), money (Yang), drugs (Jensen), ear related insecurity bordering on depression (Road) and a... well, kind of problem that men who suffer from it usually solve by carrying enormous firearms (Ceasar). In this one it was decided, I think wisely, mostly to not follow further in this way, with the notable exceptions of Christmas and Ceasar's situations... )))That being said we keep learning stuff about the Expendables and most of it is pretty funny, like the fact that one of them really enjoys cooking and he is DEADLY serious about the correct way of making his rigatoni and also that another one has got a PhD - and no, it is not the kind of PhD you immediately thought about, but a REAL one, obtained at MIT! Oh, and we also learn some surprising things about their ethnic origins...)))2. More of everythingThis was the main line of action retained for this film and the director kept it this way from the beginning to the end. You thought that in the first one Ceasar used big guns? Here they are bigger! You found Gunnar Jensen a real b@dass before? Now he is badder! You considered Ross bold? Well, now he is bolder! You liked Bruce Willis being bald? Well, here he is balder! Etc., etc.This film has more action scenes, more violence and definitely more raw fire power than the first one - in fact at one moment a T-72 tank rolls in, all guns a-blazing! There is also much more humour with a great deal of both good and bad one liners and some extremely funny dialogs, of which my favourite is the one beginning with Stallone saying: "We are Americans"...)))But the REALLY good thing about this "more of everything" approach" is that both Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger have more screen time and it is used in the most optimal way!3. ZE BAD GUYAs the villain of the story Jean-Claude Van Damme has finally an occasion to do on the screen something more interesting than his usual stuff - and he gives a great show! His character is so completely over the top that it actually helps a lot to transform this film into pure comedy. Let's just count his evil ways: a tall, muscular guy with a threatening face, dressed elegantly in dark clothes, with a clearly satanic tattoo on the neck, talking with a foreign accent and sometimes going the whole nine yards and simply speaking French. And as if all of that was not enough to show that he is the Big Bad Wolf in this story, oh, let's just name him Jean Vilain...)))4. The delicious trashing of modern metrosexual action heroesThere is one great scene in this film involving the background story of "Billy the Kid", the youngest and most recent member of Expendables, in which both the director and the scenarist (actually Stallone himself) without the slightest doubt took a big bad shot at the modern action heroes, who are almost always tormented and scarred by PTSD resulting from all possible kind of traumas. Well, the explanation by Billy why exactly did he leave the US Army and decided to become a mercenary is absolutely hilarious and indeed parodies and ridicules completely most of recent "action heroes" and their issues...))) This message mocking mercilessly more modern action films and their heroes is then repeated many, many times, with a very literal use of brass knuckles - "you simply cannot beat a classic!" ...)))...)))5. The things learned and questions answeredPossibly the most important thing we learn from this movie is that even if chicks with guns can have some part in action films, into some places it is the male hero that must enter - and he must go there ALONE! And no, I am not talking here about men's toilet...This film answers also many burning questions we always wanted to ask but didn't have the courage to do it. What happens when Dolph Lundgren ALMOST has an idea? You will find the answer here. How many Stallones does it take to put one Schwarzenegger into a Smart car? Aye, we got that covered too. Can Stallone shoot people dead with his finger? Watch the film and you will learn the answer! Can Stallone at his age still lift it up? Yes, he can! OK, but can he lift it up in Nepal mountains? Affirmative! Yes, but can he lift it up in Nepal mountains, on a plane, under heavy mortar fire and with just one hand? Err... not sure here. Watch the film.6. Other treasures and delightsThe appearance of Chuck Norris is of course a splendour - the first time he shows I almost cracked some ribs laughing! You will also certainly appreciate an awkward, quasi intimate face to face moment between Schwarzenegger and Stallone, the new decoration of the plane the Expendables use, Mr Christmas disguised as a priest and many other little delights, which I will not enumerate here, because counting to infinity is a very difficult thing - even Chuck Norris managed to do it only twice...)))WARNING FOR PET OWNERS: my chipmunks watched this film with me (from their cage they can see the TV screen) and ever since then they chase one after other like crazy and I hear them go "pew, pew, pew" and "ka-boom!" a lot. I am fine with it, but if you have a big dog it can be more problematic - so beware.ALCOHOL INFORMATION: this film encourages somehow the consumption of weakly alcoholised beverages - after the first 5 minutes I simply had to go and get me a bottle of "Corona". Then another one. And another. In all I went through eight of them this evening and boy, did I have good time! But of course you do not have to choose "Corona" - I reckon you can also as well drink beer...Bottom line, this is an excellent action comedy, without even one serious moment but with megatons of humour - however, it is rather a film for guys, so it may be better to watch it when your better half is busy with the latest "Twilight" marathon on TV. I am absolutely keeping my Blu-ray for another re-watch! Enjoy!

Good value. Not watched yet, but fingers crossed, it's as good as the first one!!

A great film with plenty of action

Well if it's not broken... just add more stars.Enjoyable fun action flix.

Bought as present

Is this film clichéd? YES. Is action packed with fights ever couple of minates? YES. Is it going to win awards for individual acting performances? NO. Will you be entertained? HELL YEAH!!!!Right you put all the top actions stars from the 80 & 90 in the same movie. You get a hell of a lot of action. The way this one differs from the first film, is they tried to put a more credible revenge plot (tiny micro plot, but a plot) into it, and Van Damn is a very credible villain. I don't think there is a 80s kid out there who did not ask the question how would win in a fight between JCVD and Stallone. Also I think the first film was more of Stallone passing the torch to Jason Stratham, but as much as I like Stratham I still do not think he is on the level of Stallone or any of the other people in the movie. This film Stallone takes centre stage as the leader as it should be, and the movie is just simply fun.Jet Li is only in the first 20 mins of the movie he is given a five minute fight scene on his own to redeem him from the first film, which I think he does. Dolph look haggard in this film and is mostly there to be the butt of the group jokes. Having said that none of the actors are shy about laughing at each other, using each other's catchphrases. A couple of Chuck Norris jokes here and there. Bruce Willis sums up the movie in one line "Shoot something".This movie is not to be taken seriously, it is simply the sum of its part, a bunch of 80s action stars, making an action movie, with a thin (but visible) plot, with in jokes that will not be lost on any of their fans. If you were or are a fan of old action movies watch this and enjoy. If you are looking for something though provoking watch something else.

I had one already so that's all I need looks good on bluray

Vervollediging collectie op blu ray. Uitstekende koop!

Très bon film

En verdad me gusto mucho la película y yo considero que le gana a la de versión Zima. El audio original viene en DTS X que ya viene optimizado para sistema de 11.1 canales, mayor cantidad de material adicional (no esta subtitulado pero viene mejor organizado), doblaje mexicano sin censura, imagen más clara y además vino con slip-cover en el que se pueden sentir las letras del título. Realmente lo recomiendo para futuras referencias.

三大レジェンドはじめ豪華なスターが共演するわくわくするストリー、ど派手なアクションが痛快な映画だと思いました。