"The Expendables 3"

Ever since this film was green lit and went into production, I have been eagerly counting down the days to seeing this third in the franchise.
I must say that I was in complete awe and amazement that Stallone managed to get Harrison Ford to appear in the movie, and real coup for sure. And the other new 'mature' cast members are also quite impressive.

The film opens with a big style prison break. Well a movie train prison break, as former Expendable 'Doc' is being transferred, and his former colleagues want him back to join the group, so they engineer an audacious prison break from a heavily armoured and well manned train. There are more than a few passing nods to a cast members recent incarceration !!!
With 'Doc' safely out of Prison, the gang head on to a simple matter of an arms deal, all is going fine until the dealer arrives. It turns out to be 'Conrad Stonebanks', former Co-Founder of The Expendables, and longtime nemesis of Barney Ross, who believed his former friend was dead, by his hand. But he is very much alive, and now Stonebanks aims to make the group history. With one of the crew in Hospital, and Trench being sidelined, Ross has to decide what course of action to take, and deal with his new boss, Drummer (Ford). Ross believes that given the suicide nature of the mission, he does not want to endanger the lives of his best friends, so goes it alone, but hiring some new blood, some younger carefree blood, with the help of 'Bonaparte' (Grammer). So with a new team in place, and they bringing technology and know how way over Ross's head, they head after Stonebanks.
All goes well, in fact a little too well. And soon Ross and the team are attacked, and he is left for dead.
The Fed's are not too happy that Ross has once again failed to deliver his arch nemesis. But they find the location that Stonebanks is holding his young team, and Ross heads off, and has a few extra passengers!!
This all leads to the big finale showdown, and what an action packed piece it is. One of the biggest finales I have ever seen, it really is quite something, but how does this compare with the rest of the film?

As much as I really wanted to love this movie as much as I did the second one, it is not in the same league. The biggest issue I have is that it does not feel like an Expendables movie. It is a nice idea having the new young blood, now whether it was the idea to have them permanantly take over, or that they would need rescuing by the older members that Ross leaves behind I do not know, but the whole fun of the first two films was this gang of aged characters, working together, the great banter, and these great names from the 1980's all on screen together. And that chemistry is well and truly lost here.I appreciate that the elder cast are not getting any younger and may find it difficult to the more action packed or stunt related work, so maybe did they they go a film too far?
The main body of the original expendables are benched for the main centre of the film. Blink and you miss the likes of Jet Li and Robert Davi.
I also have to say that one the biggest letdowns is Mel Gibson as 'Stonebanks'. I cannot decide whether we cannot relate to him as a villain, or that he is just not nasty enough. A huge step down from the brilliant Jean Claude Van Damme in the second movie.

There are some things to enjoy. The opening prison break is great, as is the follow on job. The hugely action packed finale is worth watching. And there is, as ever, a great score from Brian Tyler.

If there is to be a fourth film, and judging by the newly released opening box office takings that will be a HUGE IF, then they need to take the film back to the style of the second. If they cannot fulfil a film with mature leads, and recreate that great  banter and in-film jokes, then maybe it is best to leave the franchise at three films.

Good but much room for improvement.....7 out of 10

"Sabotage"

One of Austria's finest exports is back, with another attempt to resurrect his career, after a few failed attempts, following his departure as Governor of California. Barring his appearances in "The Expendables" film series, nothing really has sparked the imagination. Can this be the film to change all that?

Arnold leads a team of gruff DEA operatives, who are well known for infiltrating drug organisations, and then taking them down, and confiscating both their products and money. They have a top notch reputation. But they decide that their salary is not sufficient for the work they put in, so as a group they decide to skim a little off the top of a huge pile of cash, hide it securely on site, and then return when the coast is clear.
The group make the return visit, only to find the cash is gone, and a message left, indicating that all is not as it seems. Soon enough the team find themselves under investigation. They are cleared of all charges but suspicion rests on their shoulders.
But just as they think all is fine and dandy, some of their group start getting killed. The finger naturally points at the Cartel whose money they stole. So the race to survive ensues....

Am afraid that yet again, Arnie has failed to ignite the boxoffice with this dire and tired film. The story is in no way engaging, most of the characters are pretty unpleasant, and it has so little going for it. There are some nice camera angles, and Olivia Williams is always worth watching, though why on earth she is in such an awful film baffles me.
Well, by my count, this is Arnie's third turkey in a row, whether he is not getting quality scripts anymore, or whether he is making bad decisions on what to make I do not know. But clearly the days when he could command the film world are clearly over.

Given the Directing and Writing talent involved, this should have been far better.......4 out of 10

"Escape Plan"

Two Expendables team up together, in this action thriller which sees Stallone as an expert at breaking out of prisons, and highlighting the security flaws to the authorities.
He has to at times endure months in prison, examining the guard routines, the structure, and finding those all important ways for him to get out. Ray and his team are approached by a Government body to go into a Super prison. The stakes are high, the Prison said to be inescapable but the fee is high. Naturally Ray undertakes the biggest escape of his career.

As one would expect, things are not as cut and dried as they seem, and someone, somewhere wants Ray to languish in Prison for the rest of his life. If it seems like I am concentrating on Sly's character, that is because Arnie does not show up til about 30 minutes into the movie. He playing a low life crimial who may or may not know the location of a Crime king pin, and the Warden is keen to obtain the information.
Ray Breslin and his new best friend Rottmayer work together to find a way out, trying to outwit the Warden and his team of guards led by Vinnie Jones.

There is very little to commend about this film. The teaming of Stallone and Schwarzenegger should be a dream, after the massive success (in my opinion) of "The Expendables" movies. But alas here they both fall flat on their faces. The story is silly, the action is dull, what little there is, the cast seem to be stuck in first gear. As to what on earth Sam Neill is doing in the picture Lord only knows. An actor of his calibre deserves far better. And poor Vinnie Jones, well the less said about his work on the film the better.

All I can say after seeing this is that "The Expendables 3" cannot come quickly enough.....4 out of 10

"The Last Stand"

In the late 1990's Arnold Schwarzenegger unwent a major heart operation. He recovered and upon his return in front of the camera, wanted to show the Cinema going public of the World that he was still on top form, and returned in the excellent Peter Hyams thriller "End of Days".
Fast forward to 2013. Arnold has not had a lead role in some ten years, mainly due to his Mayoral duties in California. Yes he has had the odd role, mainly for his friend Sylvester Stallone in "The Expendables" film series. But here he returns with his first top billing role since 2003. Can he recapture the same magic as in 1999?

Summeton is a small town, nothing much happens there, and Sheriff Owens likes it that way. Order reigns in the town. But things are about to change. After breaking away from his Federal charges, Drugs kingpin Gabriel Cortez is making his way for the sanctity of the Mexican border. And what would be between him and his freedom?  Yes you guessed it....the small town of Summerton.

With the FBI in hot pursuit, lead by Forest Whitaker, the local Sheriff has to go it alone, with his band of merry men, and women, as they do battle with superior fire power of Cortez and his gang of cohorts. There is the inevitable big shoot-out as the Gang arrive to clear out the town before the arrival of Cortez. Johnny Knoxville (Someone I feel has provided no merit to the film World whatsoever) provides some humour as his character gets deputised by Ray Owens, as he needs all the help he can get, and especially as Lewis is an arms collector.
Yes it is violent, and there are many guns of varying sizes being used, and at times the gun battles are entertaining to watch, but there is very little else to commend about the big screen return of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Why on Earth Oscar winning actor Forest Whitaker is in a movie like this, Lord only knows. He deserves far better. In fact his career has not exactly gone the way of some Best Actor winners.
I feel the best thing that Arnie can do right now is phone his friend Sly Stallone, and ask him to get a move on with the script for "The Expendables 3", and quickly.

If nothing else, it is nice to see the 87 year old movie veteran Harry Dean Stanton on screen again, still going strong after all these years.

The big guys return should have been better.........5 out of 10.

"The Expendables 2"

That motley crew of mostly 80's has beens returns for another action packed outing with "The Expendables 2".

The first film did moderate business at the box office. In their hey day, any one of the lead stars could have doubled the takings had they been at the height of their box office power. But times have changed almost thirty years have passed. The stars are looking older. But can they still walk the walk?

The answer is a resounding yes, they most certainly can.
For me in some respects this movie has something fundamental in common with "The Avengers Assemble ",a film that came out earlier this year. The storyline of the film is of little consequence, as its only purpose is to bring this group of characters together for some action packed fun. At the end of the day you are not paying for an Oscar winning Screenplay, you are paying to see some of biggest action stars of the 1980's together for the first and possibly only time ever. I say first time, as there are the same actors from the first film here again, with a few new additions to the cast.

Church is the man who assigns the missions to Barney Ross and his team of Expendables. Church feels that the team let him down after their previous mission did not go the way he had hoped. And he feels that he is owed one by the group. So he assigns Ross and Co. to venture off to track down a fallen plane, the hold of which contains a safe and within the safe is a device which contains the location of a huge haul of plutonium, and the mission is to get the device before anyone gets their hands on it.
Before we even get to this part of the film, there is a brilliant action packed opening sequence, where the team are sent to retrieve a kidnapped Asian business man, and his rescuer, who has also been kidnapped. Cue a great start to this movie.
As mentioned, there some new names in the cast, ranging in age from a sprightly 22 to a geriatric 72. Though not naming any names.

As one would expect, the plan to obtain the device does not go to plan, and it soon is in the hands of chief villain 'Villain', as played by the Muscles from Brussels himself, Jean-Claude Van Damme. Nice to see him back on screen.
Thankfully the major improvement from the first movie is that both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis are given more screen time. There are also a couple of surprises along the way, both take place within the first 30 minutes of the film.

I have to say that as much as I was looking forward to seeing JCVD on screen, the biggest surprise was Chuck Norris. He is someone that has never really made an impact on me, but he is given a great entrance, and plays his scenes very well. There are some good in film gags, involving several of the actors on screen. This provided quite a bit of humour.

Revenge is sought by The Expendables, I won't explain why, as I do not wish to ruin the film, but this is when the cavalry arrives in the shape of 'Church' played by Bruce Willis, and 'Trench' played by Arnold Schwarzengger. It all leads to a huge shoot-out in an Airport. All the big players are there, armed to the teeth, doing what they do best. And this is what your admission ticket is for. It really is quite a spectacular sequence, brilliantly executed, with a bit of humour, but just seeing these great faces from the 80's, killing everything in sight, one more time. Fantastic.

EXciting.....EXplosive....EXactly what makes a great trip to the Cinema......8 out 10

PS - At the time of writing this review, the film is the second week of its release, and has suffered at the Box Office, but so has every other major film on release in the US. More the timing than the film, but I hope it makes enough money to give Lionsgate and Millenium the incentive to make "The Expendables 3". We so need to see the likes to Wesley Snipes and Steven Seagal in the third film. Fingers crossed.