If there is one action movie series that never lived up to its premise from inception, it’s The Expendables. Released in 2010, the first Expendables was a Dirty Dozen-styled blockbuster that evoked the macho action movies from the 1980s, as well as assembling iconic stars from the genre, including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture and Terry Crews. On paper, this sounded like The Avengers for a particular generation of action movies, and yet was succumbed with an overly serious tone and direction that never captures the over-the-top aesthetics of directors like John McTiernan, when they were at their prime in the ‘80s.
The sequels may have fared better by embracing a bit more from the premise, the overall execution is lacking and never brought out the best from the ensemble cast, and makes you want to watch their more successful actioners from before. It has been nine years since we had an Expendables instalment, and considering we have already a good year when it comes to action movies – from John Wick: Chapter 4 to Extraction 2 – can the annoyingly titled Expend4bles rise up to the occasion?
While Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) is having relationship troubles with Gina (Megan Fox), he and his fellow Expendables, comprising of old and new members, are assigned to stop a group of mercenaries, led by Rahmat (Iko Uwais) from stealing nuclear warheads with plans to ignite World War III. Much like the Fast & Furious series, the plots that involve stopping weapons of destruction never matter and you are just here to watch the witty group banter and set-pieces that define the laws of physics, and sadly Expend4bles can never achieve either.
While you still have the oldies with Stallone, Statham, Lundgren and Couture, there is no dynamic going on with the newbies, comprising of Megan Fox, 50 Cent, Jacob Scipio and Levy Tran. Whatever scenes they have with each other are filled with cheap one-liners and the recurring joke of the age gap between certain members, all of which you feel the cringe, especially Randy Couture’s Toll Road chatting up someone much younger.
And yet, despite those names – as well as Stallone taking a backseat in his limited role as Barney Ross – Expend4bles is very much Jason Statham’s show and once again doesn’t embrace its ensemble cast. As for the female energy, Megan Fox continues to fail as both a convincing action star and a team leader as previously seen in 2020’s Rogue.
If you saw the red-band trailer of this film, it was to reaffirm the fanbase that this would be rated R, following its predecessor’s controversial decision to go PG-13. That said, the strong language and gory violence feel tacked on in an action movie that looks both big-budget and low-budget, as evident in photo-shopped explosions that pop up from time to time. Despite most of the action taking place in one location, Need for Speed director Scott Waugh isn’t delivering the thrills of Die Hard and settles on shootouts and brawls that are butchered through the editing, which wastes the martial arts skills of both Iko Uwais and Tony Jaa.
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