The Expendables 2 [2012]

Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis pumping out a volley of bullets against the bad guys led by Jean-Claude Van Damme – boy, I would have done anything to get a sight of this when I was a kid and these guys were huge action superstars, viz. in the 90s. Coming a couple of decades later than ideal, it didn’t manage to get me running with ecstasy, but it did take me back to those days when such gung-ho, super-macho, unpretentious and mindless action flicks used to provide unbridled joy to me. The fact that these men, once the epitome of larger-than-life Hollywood-style heroism and escapism to millions of kids around the globe, are now ageing and hulking has-beens, but still trying to recreate their glory days, added a touch of irony to it – that the director cheekily rubbed salt into that by making them say at the end, albeit in jest, that they belong to a museum, was self-deprecatory humour at its most lacerating. In fact watching these men defying age, common sense and various laws of physics in complete abandon, with the likes of Jason Statham, Jet Li, and not to forget, Chuck Norris, joining in the bandwagon, with the self-conscious one-liners thrown in that makes one realize that none of them really took this extravaganza too seriously – hell, Chuck Norris didn’t just do a Chuck Norris, if you know what I mean, he even quoted one of many jokes on him that do the rounds – made this a fun watch (certainly more than the first part). Suffice it to say, the paper-thin plot, the utter silliness of the proceedings, wooden acting, etc. are facets that I’m not really interested in discussing in this particular case.

Director: Simon West
Genre: Action/Ensemble Film
Language: English
Country: US