Variety
A nearly incoherent all-stars-on-deck actioner that plays like "Grown Ups" on nitro or a brutish, blue-collar "Ocean's Eleven."
Full review
The Expendables
Sylvester Stallone's cameo-filled action film starring himself, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Eric Roberts, Dolph Lundgren, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and Arnold Schwarzenegger. What a line up.
The Expendables - a team of hardened war veterans lead by Barney Ross (Stallone) - take on what appears to be a routine assignment: a covert, CIA-funded operation to infiltrate the South American country of Vilena and overthrow its ruthless dictator General Garza. But when their job is revealed to be a suicide mission, the men are faced with a deadly choice that threatens their brotherhood.
2010Rating: MA15+, for strong action and bloody violence throughout, and for some language104 minsUSA
Action
- Director:
- Sylvester Stallone ('Rambo', 'Rocky Balboa', 'Rocky II')
- Writer:
- Sylvester Stallone
- Cast:
- Sylvester StalloneJason StathamMickey RourkeArnold SchwarzeneggerJet LiDolph LundgrenEric RobertsSteve AustinBrittany MurphyBruce WillisTerry Crews
The Expendables / Reviews
Total Film
Arnie, Sly and Bruce cut hard-edged, iconic silhouettes but don’t expect depth , shading or, indeed, a great deal of entertainment. Don’t you hate it when a plan falls apart?
Full reviewThe New York Times
Might more aptly be described as Bad Kurosawa, Bad Peckinpah or Bad Leone. Which might be a way of saying that it's better-than-average Stallone. I can't quite say that it's not bad: it is bad! But not entirely in a bad way.
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Rolling Stone
So why oh why is The Expendables such a limp-dick bust? Because Stallone forgets to include non-spazzy direction, a coherent plot, dialogue that actors can speak without cringing, stunts that don't fizzle, blood that isn't digital and an animating spirit that might convince us to give a damn.
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Hollywood Reporter
An effective mix of lean and over-the-top, The Expendables is often preposterous, but it achieves the immediacy of a graphic novel without the overdone mythology.
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Empire Magazine
More The Wild Geese than The Wild Bunch, The Expendables is not a wasted opportunity, but more one not fully exploited.
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Christchurch Press
The cast list for this fun, formulaic film, reads like a roll call of old school action heroes - Stallone, Statham, Lundgren, Li, Rourke, Austen, Roberts, Couture, Crews, Willis, Schwarzenegger
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Chicago Tribune
At one point Rourke delivers a monologue about his time in Bosnia, and the conviction the actor brings to the occasion throws the movie completely out of whack. What's actual acting doing in a movie like this?
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