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- Director: Patrick Hughes
- Genres: Action
- Rating: PG-13
- Release Date: 15 August 2014
- Screenwriter: Dave Callaham, Sylvester Stallone
- Starring: Antonio Banderas, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, Jason Statham, Mel Gibson, Ronda Rousey, Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes
What Worked?
Once again, Sylvester Stallone and company are back to spill blood and yell out manly things. The Expendables 3 continues the old school action of the first two installments, but brings in a whole new fresh set of Expendables for added chaos. Stallone is joined by Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson, Jason Statham, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Ronda Rousey, Antonio Banderas, and many more for another old school punch to the gut.
Director Patrick Hughes carves up the action, as he continues the story of Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham), and the rest of the crew as they go up against an ex-expendable: Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson). This film is truly an acquired taste in the cinematic world. If it was a meal it would be equivalent to beef jerky, cheddar cheese, and a six pack of your favorite brew. The script is made up of one-liners and the action is ridiculously bold. What it has going for it the most is simply this: we get to see our favorite veteran action heroes do the man dance one more time.
Overall, the cast of old-school action stars seem to be having fun, even though the script takes them to an “end of the road” sort of deal that’s been done to death. The interaction between the cast members is just a joy to watch. They’re not doing anything special, but they are sharing the screen together and racking up a high body count. We get to see Snipes cut people up again, and also see Rambo and Riggs go toe-to-toe.
At its best, The Expendables 3 is an action-hero party. At one point, you see Harrison Ford flying a helicopter with Jet Li and Arnold Schwarzenegger manning the machine guns. It’s like a “your argument is invalid” meme come to life.
Potential Drawbacks:
It just isn’t as fun anymore. Essentially, we’re given the same type of film with newer additions, but there’s nothing the series can offer us that’s fresh. Sure, it’s good enough for a matinee, especially if you’re an action junkie, but that’s about it.
The addition of the younger expendables seemed useless, as they could have done more with it. The story line was simply boring. They missed an opportunity to make things a little crazier than the previous two installments, but they stuck to the main template yet again. In addition, Gibson wasn’t as good of a villain as Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Overall, this is probably the worst Expendables film in the trilogy. It doesn’t have the novelty of the first film or the energy of the second film. It might be a good time to retire.
The Expendables 3 is rated PG-13 and is currently in theaters.