The Expendables 2 (2012)

 

It was only a question of when. I mean, the first outing of this ensemble cast was a massive callback to the over-the-top action flicks of the 1980s and it was pretty successful, so you knew there were going to be sequels. And to be fair, this one doesn't do too shabby a job, even if you can sometimes feel it is becoming a little too silly and jokey for its own good. 

It's been roughly more than a year since the team of Barney Ross (Stallone) lay waste to the island of Vilena and they are still doing their thing. They've even added a new young member to the team, who - metaphorically speaking - is only a month away from retirement.

You see where this is going, don't you?

Barney is strongarmed by Church (Bruce Willis) to recover something from a downed aircraft in Albania, where they are waylaid by a gang called the Sangs, led by a guy called Vilain (Van Damme).

Sidenote: the bad guy's name is probably the stupidest thing here, especially if you have even the slightest idea how French is spoken. Hell, it even sounds too close to the English version. Could have been better.

Anyway, the kid is killed, thus giving our team the added motivation to go forth and kick all the ass possible. They even run into Chuck Norris along the way, who is only here to provide a Deus Ex Machina-moment and go for a few Chuck Norris-meme jokes. 

Yeah, that does take you out of it just a little.

In the end, things go boom, fists fly and there is a pretty cool showdown between Stallone and Van Damme. 

Once again, the story is probably the weakest point of the entire film. It's as simple as can be. There isn't a lot of character development involved, which doesn't need to be here, but you do get the sense that the entirety is beginning to become just that little dumber and way too much 'attempt at being funny'. The Chuck Norris jokes are funny the first time, but don't stay that way with repeated viewings. Heck: the final shootout at the airport where Schwarzenegger and Willis also get involved is too self referential, where they start to spout each others catchphrases from their better films. 

Again: a little fun the first viewing, not so much after.

That being said: the action set pieces are still pretty good and there is no denying Van Damme can do a chilling bad guy if he wants to. He is by far the best thing in this story. Well, he and his henchman (played by martial artist Scott Adkins). The others are going a little too much by the numbers and they also turned Dolph Lundgren into the comic relief this time, which doesn't really work. 

So in the end you get a decent action flick, but it lacks the grittiness of the first one. But of you like things that go 'Boom!', this can still be right up your alley.