In honour of its release this week, because I have already reviewed it and because it’s still just as horribly entertaining on the small screen. I have decided to do a special feature about The Expendables, in the form of a quick look back at my favourite moments of the stars not so glittery past.
Sylvester Stallone:
The man of the moment and the reason this movie exists, He created this monster as part of his insane resolve to revive former glory. Just look at Rock Balboa and Rambo, both of which were supposed to transport you back to the old days of Sly’s career. However this is a whole different kettle of fish, The Expendables pulls together allies from his time with more up to date action stars, gives them a story and a script that is straight out of the eighties, mixes the lot together with gratuitous but so bad its good violence to complete a very entertaining film. His finest moment however was of course Rocky, never since has Sylvester Stallone ever flexed more acting muscle than when he played down on his luck south paw Rocky Balboa (In the first one, he became a parody of himself almost instantly after). Never has the big guy ever been so vulnerable and that’s what makes him so loveable (hey that rhymed!).
Jason Stathem:
Despite the actors choices he’s still very likeable, the popular choice may be The Transporter or the crazy Crank movies (they show what he’s become big for). My choice however is Lock, Stock and Snatch; I say both because it’s hard to choose between them. In Lock Stock he was the straight talking hard man of a bunch mates in the deep end. His character in Snatch could have been the same character set a little further in the future, Turkish is one of the most quotable characters in the film and he plays him to perfection. Never has a life of an un-licensed boxing manager looked so cool!
Jet Li:
This guy has never been known for his acting and I would say we haven’t really seen enough of his acting chops to judge him on that front. He does however kick ass extremely well, in the Expendables he’s used as a butt of a joke and he plays it well. For me one of the best films he’s done was Romeo must Die, taking on numerous bad guys using a fire hose: Fantastic!
Dolph Lundgren:
To say that this mans best moment wasn’t playing Ivan Drago would be very wrong so I’m not doing that. The Russian “Machine” labelled “Death from above” in the movie is a tower of muscle and foreboding. There’s not much acting needed for the role but you sure as hell believe he could kick ten tonnes of crap out Sylvester Stallone. Let’s face it he does also kill Apollo Creed, help make Universal Soldier cool and has some great moments in The Expendables.
Mickey Rourke:
Bringing the acting chops to The Expendables was Come-back king Mickey Rourke, putting enough conviction into the role to make a believable character in an un-believable film. His greatest moment for me, its clichéd but I have never seen the guy act as well as he did in the Wrestler.
Steve Austin:
Short but sweet but this guys best moments were saved for the square circle!
Bruce Willis:
Again Short but sweet, but the first Die Hard wins hands down. Although he has since proved his a much more versatile actor, he does make some bad choices in regards to his career.
I know very little about the other Expendables and need to get on with some writing that I’m very behind on. So hope you enjoyed reading.
