Who says an old cast is a bad thing when it comes to The Expendables? The only thing old about a bunch of 80s action stars sprinkled in with some new blood is the genre itself. You don’t see too many action movies these days, but it sure was cool to see an action sequel live up to the hype and surpass the first film. As a result, “The Expendables 2” is filled with superb action fun that will leave you more than satisfied.
In this explosive action sequel, Mr. Church (Willis) reunites The Expendables for what seemed to be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, they seek revenge while finding themselves in enemy territory.
From start to finish, “The Expendables 2” is a fun action thrill ride filled with massive explosions, intense fight scenes and hilarious cameos. The original characters from the first film are great. Stallone and Statham work well together. Dolph Lundgren draws many laughs as we discover his educational background. However the man who steals the show is the great Chuck Norris. Although his cameo was limited, there is one line in the film where he makes his own Chuck Norris joke. That joke might have been the highlight of the film.
There were several negative moments in this film though. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s  typical “I’m back” one-liners continue to get extremely annoying and are inconveniently placed. Using one liners from different films is just too much. His cameo by far was the worse. Although Jet Li’s role is minuscule, it did not hurt the film at all.
Another disappointment in this movie was of another 80s action star, Jean-Claude Van Damme, who plays the villain in this movie. You could tell that he has aged tremendously and his acting has declined even more so than his movie career. The main fight seen between him and Stallone was highly disappointing. As usual, we see Van Damme do those ridiculous jumping split kicks, but other than that it seemed like he was out of breath the rest of the way.
Overall “The Expendables 2” was way better than expected. For the most part the actors were enjoyable and the plot was serviceable, which is all you could ask for in an action flick. Just don’t expect to be blown away.
Minus the cheesy Arnie one liners and JCVD’s awful acting, “The Expendables 2” is definitely worth the wait especially Chuck Norris and the Cobra.
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