Now an established action mega-franchise, The Expendables series has emerged as a behemoth of the genre simply by piling on the world’s most celebrated blockbuster stars, welding them together and putting together scripts decent enough to play on all their strengths, rather than their many weaknesses. If it’s anything action stars are known for, it’s their inability to sustain the scenes between all the overblown action, but it’s a bit different when they’re all in one box; the sheer fun of seeing Rambo opposite Terminator, or Blade jokingly compete with The Transporter. The quintessential action hero archetypes finds new strength when glued together, as witnessed in the above average first two films; and while the third isn’t near as good, it’s still decent enough to keep the series exciting enough for the inevitable follow ups.
The best action scene in the entire movie isn’t saved for last, it’s thrown right at us while the opening credits are still rolling. Our ragtag group of CIA-backed powerhouses descend upon a train in a chopper and blast everyone before we get the long awaited return of Wesley Snipes (Doc) to the big screen as he goes a step further and takes down an entire fortress with the commandeered train. Strangely, this is only one of a very small amount of explosions that go down in the film.
68 year old Sylvester Stallone is the brains behind the film, writing and leading the muscular action romp and trying to sprinkle some heart and humour in between. Humour mainly consists of self-referential autocritiques, like when Doc is asked why he was in prison for so long and he coldly replies – in that Blade Vampire Hunter voice – “tax evasion”. It’s funny because it’s true. Though, aside from Arnold Schwarzenegger (Trench) having to say “Chopper” TWICE, meme-based humour is kept to a minimum. We don’t get any anti-jewish rants from Mel Gibson (Stonebanks), the movie – and the actor – isn’t willing to go that far.
Gibson has always been a better as a villain than anything else, and so he plays the film’s big bad quite well, illustrating Stonebanks with the kind of smug arrogance and self-righteousness that paints a target on his forehead not only for the good guys, but the viewers themselves. Films like this always benefit from a good villain more so than anything else, so Mel Gibson remains one of the stand-outs here despite him not having much to work with.
While there is little in the way of plot – Stalone’s Barney Ross scraps together a few decent jabs at developing himself and those around him, playing on the camaraderie and loyalty between the core of The Expendables and using that to fuel the importance of that inevitable showdown between himself and Stonebanks. This is mostly executed well during the tail ends of the film, while the excessive middle is a plodding attempt at re-recruiting younger, fresher talent so Ross’ friends don’t have to risk their lives (as if they haven’t enough already). What follows is a pretty tired monologue of tracking down and convincing young talent to join the hunt for Stonebanks, and aside from a really lame Antonio Banderas character and negligible appearances by Harrison Ford and Kelsey Grammer, we are given no one of particular interest, even if the theme of ‘passing the torch’ ends up as one of the stronger elements of The Expendables 3. While the younger cast (Glen Powell in particular) do a decent enough job at running alongside the big guns, the film lives on the sheer star power, and surreal banter, between the better known names.
With the fourth film rumoured to feature the likes of Hulk Hogan and Pierce Brosnon, this charming action franchise will remain an anticipated one, despite the third installment being the weakest one so far.
Review Score: TWO STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Running Time: 126 minutes
The Expendables 3 is currently screening in cinemas across Australia
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