Day 17- Movie 15. The Expendables (2010)

Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger. That is the main reason to see this movie. Sylvester Stallone assembles an impressive cast of action stars for his 80s throwback action movie. It is legitimately cool to see all these action stars together on screen. I loved that part of the movie. However, just seeing these actors together isn't enough to completely make up for some of this film's weaker aspects.

I wanted to mention the biggest moment of the film- the scene involving Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bruce Willis. Are you kidding me? This should have been the coolest scene of the last 10 years. You have three icons, together for the first time- it should have been an instant classic. We're talking Pacino-De Niro in Heat classic. And yet, this movie finds a way to screw this up. The scene is marred by awful, awkward dialogue. I couldn't believe the cheesy words coming out of these guys' mouths. You have a once in a lifetime scene, and THAT'S what you decide to say? Terrible. Plus, if you watch closely, Schwarzenegger and Willis never actually appear on screen together at the same time for longer than 1/3 of a second (how hard would it have been to give us ONE scene involving these three legends on screen together?) This scene should have been amazingly cool- instead it was amazingly disappointing.

There are some good action scenes throughout this movie. There are some great battles- Sylvester Stallone v. Steve Austin, Dolph Lundgren v. Jet Li, and many others. These are legitimately cool scenes, and I enjoyed them. However, these can't make up for the atrocious dialogue uttered throughout this movie. These action stars all utter some of the most awkward, forced dialogue I've ever heard. These guys are supposed to be friends and have been working together for years. I never felt like any of the actors really worked well together. Stallone and Statham are supposed to be best friends- they seem awkward and forced whenever they are on screen together. That is disappointing.

I really go back-and-forth on this movie. I loved the potential of it. I loved seeing all these actors on screen together. However, the script was weak and the dialogue was maddeningly stupid. This prevents the film from really getting off the ground. For that reason, I'd give this movie a decent (but somewhat disappointing) 6.5/10.

I probably should go on, but it's nearing 1am, I've watched two movies tonight, and I am wrapping this up. I'm still 2 movies behind pace- I need to get caught up this weekend. On a final note, how amazing is that Pacino-De Niro restaurant scene in Heat?