Movie Preview: The Expendables

Sometimes a movie is just what you expect it to be. With the Expendables the promise is action, explosions, and a few snappy lines. I see no reason for the film to fail to deliver on all 3.

This is an action movie first and foremost. It's a combination of the stars of the 80's and the latest action movies. Stallone, Lungdren, Rourke, Statham, Li, and Austin. What a combination of testosterone, with enough bullets and explosiuons to level a mid-sized city. Which is pretty much the plan of the film.

The plot is simple enough. A group of mostly older mecenaries is hired to take out a South American dictator. Along the way they get double crossed by former associates, and have to fight to survive. Cliche but it works.

If you were going to see this film with the hope of understanding the greater meaning film can bring to the inhumanity of war and combat, wrong film.



The fight scenes look good (and they should since Stone Cold Austin would up fracturing Slyvester Stallone's neck in their fight scene). Obviously the stars of this film all will get their moment to show off their particular talents and style. But we can also see that plenty of money was spent to ensure the battles would look huge and devastating. Because in an action film there is no such thing as overkill.

Plus there looks to be more than a few well timed and funny one-liners and situational jokes. Likely there will be other attempts that will fail, but as long as the writers didn't try to fill every scene with a hoped for catchy phrase (Like in Running Man with the Governator) it should work more often than not.

Also keep an eye out for the rest of the 80's stars. Which includes Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. Forest Whitaker had a role written for him, but had to drop out, initially to be replaced by 50 Cent (the thought sends a chill down my spine), and ultimately filled by Terry Crews who should fill in well. Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and Kurt Russell all turned down roles in the film. Which is a shame as they really would have completed the mix of 80's to current action film stars.

This won't win Oscars, or likely any award other than from Spike TV or MTV. But this will almost certainly be one of the biggest money makers of the year. The real question is who out of the entire cast will have the best fight scene? My money goes on Jason Statham. Best one liner will almost definitely go to Stallone - it is his movie after all.


**Spoiler Alert**
Not everyone on the team will survive (Li and Crews are the likely victims). But there is already talk that those who do, will be in a sequel. Seagal and Russell might make it yet.

2010 movies you will want to see

As 2009 is ending it's time to look forward to what movies will be coming in 2010. Like in many years recently past there will be a decent number of remakes and revisioned films, several conversion films, and more than a few major movies that have huge anticipation.

Instead of trying to list every film that will be in theaters in 2010 I will instead hit on some of the best, and worst, ideas that Hollywood has to offer us. I'm sure that I will be as right and wrong on these films as most movie reviewers always are.

The films you might want to see include:

Legion - Though it is a January film - normally an indication of a horrible film - this looks like it has potential. I think this might be a film that will appeal to those who enjoyed the original The Prophesy movie.

The Book of Eli - Denzel Washington is known for his ability to act and to pick quality films to appear in. Which surprises me as this film is slated (last I noticed) for the graveyard of January. I have high expectations for this film, I hope to not be disappointed.

The Wolfman - Benicio Del Toro is a great actor and should be perfect in this remake. The addition of Sir Anthony Hopkins adds to the potential of this being a quality film. The moderating thing is that the film is a remake, which in Hollywood these days is a 70/30 proposition against a quality film. But so far the movie trailers say it will beat the odds.

Death at a Funeral - A remake of a British film of the same name, subject and likely everything else except the color of the cast. That's a good thing as Hollywood writers seem to be the laziest and least creative in the movie making world these days. From the movie trailers I've seen this should be a hit for Chris Rock and Martin Lawrence. Thank you England.

Iron Man 2 - War Machine. That says it all.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time - A risky bet, but the effects look great. If the Hollywood writers kept the storyline from the video game intact this should be a great video game to movie conversion. If not, which is likely, this will be a revisionist waste of time to capitalize on fans pocket money. But it should be worth finding out in theaters.

The Expendables - There is no lack of hype for this film filled with former 80's (action) stars. Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, and Dolph Lundgren get to flex their old muscles against relatively younger jet Li and Jason Statham. For action movie junkies this is a must see.

MegaMind - Yes this is an animated film. Yes it's meant for kids. Even so I think this will be The Incredibles of 2010. The concept seems great even though it will feature Will Ferrell and was created by Ben Stiller. If nothing else it will rake in cash.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - It's a Harry Potter movie, how can you not see it. Honestly, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson have really grown into solid actors and this should be very entertaining. Hype aside, this should be the big hit (box office) of the year.

And that's the list of the good. Now comes the bad.

The Expendables: Cast growing with action movie icons

In a bit of a quick update there is the news that the 2010 film, The Expendables, has increased the large and famous cast. The latest addition to the film will include yet another major icon of the 1980’s action movies.

Yes the Guvernator himself will be taking a role in Sylvester Stallone’s latest film. But this will not be a major part, just a cameo. And he will be playing a role that will involve little acting – he will play the Governor of California. How embarrassing might it be if his role is done poorly?

Still the Expendables movie is continuing to look like a must see film. The cast of Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren (an old nemesis of Stallone and Schwarzenegger) , Mickey Rourke, and Forest Whitaker is compelling. The addition of the Governator just adds a bit of flair.

By the way, here are some of the match-ups from the past with this cast.

Stallone has been in films with:
Mickey Rourke – Get Carter (remake)
Dolph Lundgren – Rocky 4

Jason Statham has been in films with:
Jet Li – War and The One
Mickey Rourke – 13 (filming now - remake)

Mickey Rourke has been in films with:
Eric Roberts – Pope of Greenwich Village

Forest Whitaker has been in films with:
Ben Kingsley – Species

And oddly enough, Christopher Walken (who is not in the film) has been in movies with:
Mickey Rourke – Dominoe, Man on Fire
Arnold Schwarzenegger - The Rundown (the Governator had an uncredited role, did you notice?)
Sylvester Stallone – Antz
Eric Roberts – Prophesy 2
Dolph Lundgren – A View To A Kill

Just thought I’d add that.

The Expendables - 2010 movie

Now here is a concept that I am looking forward to seeing trailers for. A movie with action as its complete drive. Plot be damned, this will be fast-paced and sure to provide a pounding.

The Expendables is a film featuring Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, and Dolph Lungdren. With just that part of the cast you might think this is a return to the action movies of the 1980's. Which is not an entirely bad thing. But hold on.

Add to this group of oldies but goodies Jet Li and Jason Statham. And for a bit of dramatic flair there is also Ben Kingsley and Forest Whitaker. Now that is a cast of standing. You can stage a film about almost anything with this group of actors.

This film will focus on mercenaries that are hired to take down a South American dictator (might he have a last name sounding like Chavez?). It doesn't need to get much deeper than that.

Likely good guys are Statham, Li, and Stallone. Probable bad guys are Rourke, Lungdren, and Kingsley.

While I don't expect this to be an Oscar winner, I do expect massive amounts of explosions and kicking ass. There will be big guns a plenty. So if you enjoy art house films this will not be for you most likely.

One thing I would really enjoy in the film would be a fight scene between Li and Statham. I am sure the film has to have that, if only for a few minutes. That would be a great action sequence. That will make the film for sure.

There is no video yet, but be confident that once there is I will be getting it out to you all. Expect this in 2010.