The Expendables

"Big is not always beautiful," that's my impression after I finished watching The Expendables. We saw the returns of Sylvester "Rocky" Stallone in the big screen, not only as an actor, but also as a director. The tagline sounds pretty awesome, "the most awesome action cast ever assembled." Yes it is. Imagine, all of the iconic action heroes, from Stallone to Jason Statham. Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, or from the newer generation, Steve Austin, Terry Crews. And also, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. What? He played in the movie? Yes he is. So it is a big guarantee that this movie rocks! (Don't stop reading, that sentence is not a recommendation yet)

The Expendables is the name of an elite mercenary team, which consist of well everyone I stated above except, Bruce Willis, Steve Austin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mickey Rourke (Well, technically he's on the team, but sort of supporting guy, as he's an ex-member.) They are asked to do a mission on an island called Vilena. Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) also offered the job to Barney Ross's (Sylvester Stallone) rival, Trent Mauser (Arnold Schwarzenegger) but he refuse it. At this point, one moment really made me laugh. Go ahead and see it. So, Ross and Christmas (Jason Statham) go to the island to do a recon mission. Over there, they met their contact Sandra (Giselle Itié). But, their recon gone wrong, and they decided to leave immediately. Leaving Sandra behind, Ross decided to call it off and not doing the job. But after hearing the story of Tool (Mickey Rourke) about not saving a girl, he decide to save Sandra on his own. And the action began (it's already began since the first moment of the movie, FYI.)

Okay, since it already quite late here, and I'm starting to stare at the bed, I'll make it quick. The story is so predictable. Madam in distress, the bulletproof heroes, and bunch of explosions. Too bad, Stallone didn't manage to make the characters of everyone being digged. Seems pretty plain, and all we see is Stallone in his 60s still buffed up body. Maybe because it's a tough job to balancing the story to make a good use of every single actor. But, maybe he didn't need to try that hard to fit everyone to less than two hours duration. He could extend the duration if he wants.

Yes I know this is somekind of tributes to the action heroes from all generations. But at least makes the story more interesting, so all we know about action heroes not about those massive explosions.

Overall, I'm not satisfied, seeing the movie's potential to be awesome and not maximized. I hope someday, Mr. Stallone can create another giant ensemble cast movie, without ruining the awesome cast with straightforward story and lack of character development.