Expend4bles movie review: Jason Statham almost flies solo in this stale tale
The Expendables are on a mission to avert a nuclear disaster that could spin out of control. But they have an unknown enemy, who seems to be one step ahead of them. Can they pull it off?
2.0/5
Sep 22, 2023
Jason Statham in a still from the film
Expend4bles
Story: Barny Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and his gang of Expendables are on a mission to ensure a bunch of nuclear detonators do not fall into the wrong hands. Should this go south, the US government, will have nothing to do with them. Of course, things go wrong, and the detonators make it on to a device set on course to Russia on a ship, giving the Expendables another shot at retrieving them and ensuring World War III is not set off.
Review: How many times have we seen movies about bombs and related devices that need to be deactivated in the nick of time or allowed to go off albeit well out of reach of humanity? This is as stale a plot that stale can get that it stinks and yet, the makers of this fourth instalment in the Expendables franchise thought it made sense to do it all over again. Tales as old as time can make for interesting watching, if it is repackaged well. But this one does not even get that right. It’s quite insufferable from the word go. The dialogues are silly, jokes are lame and the action, which is supposed to be the franchise’s strong suit, makes Rohit Shetty’s movies look good.
Curtis Jackson (50 Cent), Megan Fox, Levy Tran, Tony Jaa and Jacob Scipio join series regulars Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture on this mission. But even the extra muscles and glam comes to nought here, as the team is held captive by the bad guys on the ship, making it up to Jason’s Lee Christmas to single-handedly take out almost 75% of the crew, until he’s joined by Barny’s old pal, Decha (Tony Jaa). With the nuclear device primed to detonate minutes later and the kill switch lost at sea, it is up to Lee to decide what the fate of the world is going to be. No prizes for guessing how that plays out.
Jason, gets most of the action, with the girl and the bad boys, and remains the only reason to watch the film to the end. There’s something about the actor that draws me to his films, even the silly shark movies. It pains me to say this, but actors like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger should hang up their action hero boots and allow younger audiences to enjoy their works from their prime instead. Unlike Arnold, who used a body double throughout Fubar, Sylvester steps aside from the hardcore action in Expend4bles. Smart choice, but as someone who grew up watching some of Sly’s best works and his youthful charm, it is hard to watch the 77 year old onscreen.
Verdict: Expend4bles is a film that came almost a decade after the third film in the franchise, which was widely panned for its more sober, family-viewing friendly content. With this film, the makers promised a lot of blood and gore and yes, there are throats being slit and heads blown to smithereens, but none of it feels new or exciting. I walked out of the theatre feeling so underwhelmed that even Meg 2: The Trench seemed like a much superior film. If you’d still like to check this one, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
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