Expendables 2

EXPENDABLES 2 could be summed up in one word. Big.
Big guns, big toys, big explosions and an even bigger body count than the first movie.
Yep, Sylvester Stallone and his team of 80’s and 90’s action stars sure went all out for the sequel.
But this time it gets a little more personal when Barney Ross (Stallone) loses a man in what should have been a simple in-and-out job.
The team is still the same, you’ve got big boss Ross and his second-in-command and knives specialist Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), kung-fu fighting Yin Yang (Jet Li), heavy weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture), the unpredictable Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren).
There’s also sniper Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth), the team’s newest recruit and Ross’ protégée.
The film starts in Nepal where the team is sent to rescue a Chinese businessman.
Of course, in true ‘Expendable style’, the guys invade the rebel’s camp with their not-so-high-tech vehicles (but they do the job, like smash through concrete walls, never the less!) and guns blazing.
And so starts the body count.
On the mission, Ross also saves his rival Trench (Schwarzenegger).
On their way back home, Yang (Li) makes an unexpected departure from the scene and the rest of the movie.
A shame, since those of us that loved the martial artist in the first movie never really get a chance to see him kick some serious, um, well, you get the picture.
Anyway, back in New York Ross bumps into his contractor Mr Church (Bruce Willis) and is assigned a pretty easy job to settle a score with Church.
The twist this time is that someone else is to tag along for the mission.
Enter Church’s technical expert Maggie Chan (Yu Nan), who is, as you can tell from the name, a woman. Something that does not go down well with Ross.
But throughout the movie, you’ll see Chan can handle herself pretty well with or without a weapon.
So onward they go, new female companion in tow, to find a safe that has “something very valuable” in it (don’t they all?!).
But the trip is not as easy as they thought when they are jumped by international criminal and arms dealer Jean Vilain (Jean Claude Van-Damme). The device they retrieved is stolen and in the process, Ross loses a good man. (I’d tell you which one but that would be spoiling it)
So with revenge on his mind, and Chan revealing that the device hold the blueprint to a huge plutonium mine, Ross and the gang hunt down Vilain.
During their quest for vengeance, of course there is the same sarcastic phrases from Ross and Christmas, living up their bromance, and the witty conversations between Caesar and Road.
The cheesy one-liners and cliché moments kind of put you off, but you can’t help but smile when you see these one-hit action stars back in their element.
There is a part in the movie though that I probably enjoyed the most.
The gang was surrounded by Vilains men, all out of ammo and probably thinking that this was the end.
Then, as they were about to accept their fate, their enemies are all killed after a shower of bullets.
Stunned by what had happened, the team regroup trying to think of who or what had helped them.
They turn, and out from the smoke, and a little Western-themed music,  comes ‘The Lone Wolf’ aka Chuck Norris.
Absolutely brilliant editing by the directors and producers! (Two thumbs up!)
Of course Ross and his team save the world but not in one clean sweep.
I mean, what’s the point in having a huge amount of action stars in one movie if they’re not going to fight side by side right?  – another highlight of the movie.
Seeing Rambo, the Terminator and John McClane (for you non-action fans this was Willis’ character in the Die Hard series) blow up an airport full of bad guys with heavy machinery is any die-hard action fan very happy.