The Expendables 2

I understand the general enthusiasm because seeing all those legends together has a unique feeling. Unfortunately, when I take into account that a film has qualities and attributes other than the cast and the chemistry between the actors (which would exist even if they just looked at each other), it is a failure overall. Simon West seems to have forgotten what a quality action film should be like. I'll overlook the terrible television picture quality (retro and all) and the locations somewhere between Romania and Bulgaria (hello Van Damme and Seagal). If The Expendables had action as good as Con Air had 15 years ago, I would be thrilled, but unfortunately, it’s not even half as good. The editing very confusing, nobody knows who is shooting whom, there are several repeated shots within a few minutes, and woefully confusing fights, except for the last one. I wouldn't expect a purely action film to have its biggest weakness precisely in the action. Stallone is still a cool and the lines and jokes are fine, but I would rather watch three of each guy's best films and not have to look at such a mess. (17/09/2012)

I have mixed feelings. On one hand, things that I always wanted to see, on the other exaggerated prancing about for female fans and zero story. Arnold’s lines are way off. Norris tells jokes about himself and the whole thing is very forced, and not in a good way. The greatest positive element here is Van Damme who enjoys being evil. Anytime he walks into shot, it’s worth it. In the finale, Sly makes the most of how pissed he was that he didn’t land a role in part one. :-) West’s directing is visually high standard, but in places the action is confusing and very little of it is interesting. Jet Li is gone in an instant, luckily we see more of Dolph. I’m giving this four stars, but purely out of blind fandom. Otherwise, someone deserves a slap for the credits. (14/09/2012)

The first one earned points mainly for effort and for ultimately managing to cross the finish line. The second one sets a faster pace from the very beginning, holds it without stumbling, effectively sells the emotions of tough guys – and only then reveals its main weapons. Personally, I think that even though I really like Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham, I am certainly not the primary target audience for this film. But just tell that to the final showdown at the airport, which must invigorate the senses of every viewer who has ever enthusiastically cheered on an action film. Whether it's anyone from the most anticipated trio shooting, Jean-Claude Van Damme delightfully delivering his lines or Chuck Norris charming the viewer with a joke about himself, this reached its climax in the final shootout. (12/09/2012)

“My shoe is bigger than this car!” Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Ed Wood of Hollywood actors. Hardly any film this year will bring me more delight and a bigger testosterone rush than The Expendables 2, an inane B-movie with cheap digital effects and great catchphrases and genre references. And the fact that the best actor playing the movie’s best character is Jean-Claude Van Damme will go down in history. (04/11/2012)

Finally someone understands that nostalgia for action movie style from the eighties with their wall-poster heroes can today function only as tongue in cheek. And precisely because it doesn’t take itself seriously at all, unlike part one, gives this some real oomph. On top of that, the action is easy to follow, not that modern, epileptic style of editing, like in part one. So this time I would definitely consider buying an old, second hand VHS of this with its consecutive monotonous Czech dubbing. (24/12/2012)