So as promised here is my movie review of Expendables 2 after having seen it on thursday evening. So I just wanted to remind people out there of the classic 80/90's action movies where we had the gods of action, where the villains were evil and some how able to afford an army of mercs or followers and the hero is practically like a lone wolf fighting off the army himself.

Back when the first movie came out, it could not have come at a better time when sensitive heart warming movies about love, life and the soul were coming out or lame teenie bopper movies about sparkly vampires or some teenage guy who lives forever and wants to learn about love or some crap like that. In the end what made Expendables so successful was not just its star studded cast of action heroes. But it was also a nostalgia film. a nostalgia film that put hair on your chest. So I just wanted to bring that up before we get into the review. (Up yours eat,pray, love.)

The Plot:

Without revealing too much than what was already told in the commercial, the old team is back with a minus to 1 who appears in the beginning but takes off for a while which is yet to be determined. I can say this, Jean Claude makes for an awesome villain. though not as much screen time he does show he is the type of guy who you don't want to **** with. The story itself is good the plot is simple so you can spend time working on the characters and the life that they live. As hired Mercs its hard to imagine what life is like for them, especially guys at their age. And this movie brings up that point of old heroes still going when they just don't want to do it anymore.

Over all the story was simple and they made it last for 1 hour and 35 mins. at time it still feels like it was cut down and they could of had more content, but it holds true to be a modern classic in the action genre. The biggest highpoint for me would have been the big boss battle. Stallone vs Van Damme and all i can say was GOD DAMN!. So i have to give the story a 3.5 out of 5. Beware the awful one liners.

The Actors:

Though I won't go into every single character I will go into the new players into this movie. Ill touch on those who did not really have a part in the last movie. So mainly we got a change to some of the characters origins as well as returning characters who only made cameo's in the previous.

Lundgren: Though he just seemed like a crazy junkie, much has changed from his original character in the first movie. and just to save time on his origins, if anyone knows any history about Dolph Lundgren before he did acting they pretty much used that as his life story. GO M.I.T! And now he has more speaking parts in this movie and it was great to see him more than just a junkie who betrayed the group in the first.

Norris: I am just going to say it now. I hate Chuck Norris. But they could not help but throw in the man himself into this movie. He did not have much of a part in terms of story but ill spoil this for you guys. No roundhouse kick. And of course they had to throw in a chuck norris joke into the movie. Though as much as i don't like the man and his fan base, he did not over stay his welcome. so he had a great part in this movie.

Willis: his part in this movie was part cameo and part actual fighting. He was just an a-hole in the beginning but once he gets fighting he becomes less than that. still good to see him do something more than talking than what he did in his previous movie.

Van Damme: He makes a good crazy man i can say that. but there was something about him that made it seem like he almost did not want to be there. But still it was great to see him on screen again and he is still nimble. still so nimble enough that i would not want to actually fight him. as in he still does jumping spin kicks like a motha ****ing pro. scary. sucks he was killed cause they should have had him in as part of the 3rd movie.

Schwarzenegger: Trench if you remember his code name from the first movie, is back, and this man is not short of his catch phrases. I mean come on. its like Mr.Freeze all over again. "STAY COOL!" "what killed the dinosaurs? THE ICE AGE!" so you can imagine those types of lines all across this movie when he is in there. but once again that man knows how to command the screen when he is on it.

Yu Nan: She was a great addition to the series, and hope a person who will come into the group herself in the next movie. She was playing a-typical female character. She was smart, resourceful, and intelligent. Like you would expect her to be good at one thing only and suck at everything else like those classic movies. but she holds her own in combat.

So out of this star studded cast there have been some great add ons that fight amazingly well with this story. I would imagine to have some returns and this was great to focus a story in europe where it was notorious for its hot spots back during the 90's. But overall the characters worked suprisingly well together and there were no clashes for screen time. so I have to give that a big 4.5 out of 5.

Overall:

So overall the movie was great in terms of action, the story was kind of simple so there was no real need to focus to much on it outside of the basic idea of revenge. revenge for what, i won't tell just go see the movie. anything I technically say cheapens the film or makes it sound worse than what it was. My experience in that movie was personal. I grew up with these stars especially with Lundgren as He-man. so to me its very personal and loved the movie from top to bottom and normally I would give a movie like this a score of 4 out of 5 because of how i rated the story and the actors that worked in the movie. so its a 4.5 out of 5. its a fantastic movie and loved every moment of it. it was sad to me that it was not longer.

So its a must see before the end of the summer and everyone goes back to school. To me this is right up there on par with Avengers. its fun and got a great character story going on. so you all will enjoy it. if you did not enjoy it you can still go out to buy eat pray love on dvd and blue ray. take care of yourselves and have fun at the movies. im out.