Action movies never have convincing plots, but that doesn’t matter much. The action in The Expendables 3 is enjoyable, but it rambles on as if director Patrick Hughes is turning an XBOX set on and off.
The Expendables 3 brings moviegoers back to the old school ’80s and ’90s action film genre. It’s refreshing to see old-fashioned action with the blockbuster season coming to a close. This third installment of The Expendables trilogy promises to give the audience a good time and it delivers.
Like the previous two, The Expendables 3 centers on a team of mercenaries headed by Sylvester Stallone, along with legendary action stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews and Jason Statham.
It’s the typical action movie plot: Tough guys fighting an evil terrorist group in a fictional country. It’s sometimes nauseating to see aging stars carrying on their tradition as it were fresh, but Stallone is a “never-say-die” act.
The movie opens with Stallone’s group saving new recruit Wesley Snipes from prison. Their next mission is a failure with one member down. Stallone ditches the team to lead a new team for revenge. He recruits a more younger group of mercenaries for a mission involving an old-time nemesis, played with angry flair by Mel Gibson (an apt choice given his recent career). The younger team gets kidnapped by the villain, so it’s up to Stallone and his old gang to save the day with their old-school weapons and gung-ho bravado.
As usual, aging stars Kelsey Grammer, Harrison Ford, Antonio Banderas, and Snipes provide the fun while the younger guest stars such Kellan Lutz and Ronda Rousey, UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion, provide an old to new contrast. Of the 17 star-studded cast members, Banderas comes off the most entertaining as a motormouth killer.
What matters is that the strong camaraderie of these old pros gives the movie a tongue-in-cheek approach that plays on our knowledge, and a love/hate feeling for the actors and action films they starred in at their prime. There’s immediate joy in their buddy-buddy conservations and winking at the audiences with inside jokes.
TheExpendables 3 is a tribute to actors built to survive demolitions, explosions and hailing gunfire. Their fellow feelings may prove tiresome with a fourth installment on the way, but their indestructible stature remains effective. For fans of these stars or movie goers interested non-hip, rowdy fun, this movie provides all the fun the remaining summer has.
