The Expendables was every action movie fan’s dream, on paper: take the biggest action stars and put them in one movie. That mostly worked out, although Expendables 2, due out in Summer 2012, is going to have an even more impressive cast. Expendables stars and is directed by Sly Stallone, and co-stars Jason Statham and Jet Li. Other roles are filled by Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, and Terry Crews. Hell, even Bruce Willis and Arnold make brief cameos, although of the non-action variety.
The problem with getting so many stars together is how to appropriately use them in the time you have with the audience. That’s part of the trouble I have with Expendables. It’s not so much that you don’t get to know the characters or see them develop and so forth, it’s more so that what time is not used in action isn’t spent as well as it could have been. Statham’s side story with some vague love interest eats up a lot of screen time, and much of the dialogue between him and Stallone, but I thought it was nigh useless or irrelevant — nothing come of it, so why even have it?
On the other hand Expendables does a pretty good job of setting up the final battle. You know going in that things would end that way, but the lead-up is fairly interesting. The plot has the Expendables, hired by Bruce Willis, a shady government agent, going to Vilena to kill the ruling dictator. However, things aren’t as they seem. It’s not the dictator (David Zayas) who is running the show, it’s a corrupt CIA agent who is using this little island for growing and selling drugs. The dictator’s daughter provides an x-factor. Her spirit and determination inspire Barney (Stallone) to take on the job after initially deciding it was too risky. There are hints of a vague love interest too, but I thought Stallone did well to keep such scenes on the sidelines for this action-centric film.
The action of Expendables is chock full of clever gun sequences and some martial arts, not to mention some slick bladework from Christmas, Statham’s character. It’s fun, entertaining, and engaging stuff, and I would not have minded even more of it in exchange for some of the other slower, plot-padding scenes.
As for the Extended Cut, it’s been long enough since I saw the original that I cannot accurately pick out all of the new eleven minutes, but much of it seems to be just character building or sub-plot scenes. In other words, there’s no reason to buy this new version if all you are looking for is more action. The same can be said for the presentation quality, as it looks and sounds just like the original, at least as far as I can tell. Expendables on Blu-ray really shines in the visual and aural departments, making for a beautiful and immersive cinematic treat with no noted technical shortcomings.
The extra features are different than the original release, and by that I mean they do not include all of the extras that were on the original. It’s a shame really; here’s what you can expect from the Extended Cut:
-Intro by Sly Stallone (HD, 2.5m) – When you first load up the disc, Sly, in costume and on the set of Expendables 2 welcomes you to the Extended Cut. The main intro has him in a studio office, talking about how this Extended Director’s Cut is way, way better than the theatrical and how he struggled with decision-making during the original cut. I think he’s overstating the true value of this Extended Cut, but, to each his own.
-Sylvester Stallone: A Director In Action (HD, 20m) – Sort of a behind the scenes feature where Stallone talks shop and you are treated to some production footage.
-Inferno: The Making of The Expendables (HD, 91m) – A must watch ‘making of’ feature.
-Sully Erna “Sinner’s Prayer” Music Video (HD, 3m48s) – Blah.
To the summary…