The Expendables III

August 15, 20145 min

They just don’t make action movies like they used to. Back in the eighties there was no such thing as stealth, or using computers to disarm anything. No you would send one of those one-name action stars to bust in recklessly into a hostile situation and let them kill the bad guys. Things like armies, running out of ammo, or even getting in a no-win situation, no matter how big they couldn’t handle just did not happen back then. Now we have a new age where brain is used over brawn, but you still need to look good without a shirt. So where did all those action stars go from the eighties? Well they are still kicking ass and asking questions later, and they even have their own movie franchise where they all can do it together.

 

Back in 2010 Sly Stallone decided he wanted to make a movie about a elite team of mercenaries and he brought ever action star from the eighties and nineties along for the ride. Now this is the third installment of Sly and his “Expendables” giving old action stars, wrestlers, and MMA fighters a chance to be on the big screen. The story is simple Stallone, Statham, Schwarzenegger,Lundgren, and Couture are the good guys. Add names like Ford, Crews, Snipes, Grammer (yes Fraiser), Ortiz, Lutz, Banderas, and Rousey and you have a long list of names that seem to go on forever and that is without the name Mel Gibson, who is so good when he is bad. Back to the story, the good guys must defeat the bad guys. Along the way guns will get shot, things will blow up, and a lot of punches will be thrown. As for the actual story, that doesn’t really matter.

 

If you had to say one thing about Stallone, the guy loves franchises. The other thing about Stallone, he knows what he is good at, and he keeps doing it, defying age. I look forward to “Rocky X” when Stallone is out there fighting in his walker against some hot fighter who is big at that time. The first “Expendables” was just action heaven, not because it was action, but because you got a glimpse of what action star heaven might look like. With part two, he added more stars but the film was not as good. This time with the addition on Banderas, Grammer, and Snipes, who even makes a joke about being in jail for tax evasion, he puts it closer to the level of the original. Make no mistakes these are not good movies, but they are entertaining at times with their simple approach.

 

Everyone wants to see these guys kick ass like the good ol’ days, even though some of them look like our grandfathers. It is good to see movies like this, no thinking is required, and if your attention is not fully on the movie, you don’t have to worry about missing anything important, well except something blowing up. It looks like we can expect a forth in this series, and while none of these films will be taking home awards anytime soon, there is still some fun to be had.

 

 

Brian Taylor

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