If you'd like a more visual experience watch my youtube review HERE!
Here we are, The Expendables 3 has come out. Now I wasn't really a fan of the first one; I thought it was too serious, badly written and rather boring though it did has some good actions scenes. I actually enjoyed the second one; it was a lot more fun, funnier, had good actions scenes and of course it wasn't exactly well written but we're not expecting Oscar worthy writing from these films are we? And with the third Expendables the franchise kind of finds itself in the middle of the previous films.
The Expendables 3 is directed by Patrick Hughes and written by Sylvester Stallone and Dave Callaham. After a mission gone wrong and a member of the team in coma, Barney Ross (Stallone) decides to seeks revenge and assembles a new and younger team so that his usual team mates won't be put in harms way. The antagonist of this film is former Expendable and co-founder Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson) who is now a big arms dealer as he prefers to profit and give orders rather than work under people.
Like I said this is not Oscar calibre work in any way and this trilogy isn't anywhere in the league of the the trilogies featured in this post's picture but it's not terrible either. The Expendables 3 isn't as serious as the first one nor is it as fun as the second and because of that the tone of the film is constantly uneven. The plot is rather dumb and the film could have been half an hour shooter but the action is rather exciting and there's actually some character development for a handful of the characters though most the cast is still underdeveloped and playing stereotypes.
The real bright spot of this film is Mel Gibson and it could have used a lot more of him (also a whole lot more Terry Crews as well). No matter where you stand regarding Mel Gibson (love him, hate him, don't really care) the man is incredibly charismatic and because of him there's a scene
which if the rest of film followed suit it actually would have been pretty damn good. Now the film was originally meant to be MA15+ (R in the US rating system) but they ended up editing it to be M (PG13+) which is rather unfortunate as it causes the editing to be rather disjointed at times and also makes the actions scenes less exciting (blood is fun sometimes). Overall it's a well made film but it just isn't great or fun enough to really enjoy.
Now before I end my review I just wanted to address something that this movie (and countless others) is guilty of and that is false gender equality. Ronda Rousey plays one of the new recruits and is tough woman who is probably capable of killing me in one blow. A tough woman as strong as the guys, feminism right? Not really; when your film is constantly referencing that your tough female character is a woman and she is constantly complaining about the men being...well men, this is not gender equality in any sense. For a film to actually portray gender equality it has to forget about gender and actually treat everybody the same, everybody just as people not men or women. A great example of this was Edge of Tomorrow; Emily Blunt's character was tough and considered the best soldier (not female soldier) and not once did anyone say 'because she's a woman' or 'for a woman,' she was just a soldier like everyone else.
Sorry for the little spiel but it's just something that always bothers me and nothing seems to be changing it.
Now back to the review; The Expendables 3 isn't great but it's not terrible either. What it is, is a decently made film that should entertain those looking for exciting action scenes and one-liners from their favourite action stars. As for people like me, it'll be a film that we'll be unlikely revisit though we won't loathe the time spent watching it just one time; though it could have been shorter. I can't say I liked it but I didn't hate it either.
2 1/2 out of 5 stars.
Let me know your thoughts in the comment below.
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