Menahem Golan passed away on August 8th at the
age of 85. Most of you might not know his name, but you definitely know his
work. Golan directed The Delta Force
with Chuck Norris and Over the Top
with Sylvester Stallone. Golan was better known as a prolific producer who took
over Cannon Films in 1979 with his cousin Yoram Globus. Together, they churned
out movies like Missing in Action, Death Wish
II through Death Wish 4, American Ninja, Masters of the Universe, and Superman
IV: The Quest for Peace. Sure, they weren't classics, but their output
became synonymous with the 80's action era.
Stallone has found a way to keep that genre on life support
with The Expendables series. Each
film sees Stallone assemble an all-star cast of action heroes for two hours of
explosions, mayhem, and bloodshed. These movies are heavy on testosterone, but
the scripts are light on plot, characterization, and wit. Still, the franchise
has kept afloat as we now get set for The
Expendables 3.
Barney Ross (Stallone) and his team of Lee Christmas (Jason
Statham), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), and Toll
Road (Randy Couture) are dropped into some anonymous Eastern European country.
In a wild opener, the team rescues Doctor Death (Wesley Snipes), a founding
member of the Expendables who has been imprisoned for years after a failed assassination
attempt. Doc proceeds to hijack a transport train and crash it into the prison,
likely killing hundreds of guards and inmates, just to get revenge on the
sadistic warden. There's no rest for the wicked as Ross and company are tasked
with taking out a notorious arms dealer, who is revealed to be Conrad
Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), another founding member. Stonebanks was seemingly
killed by Ross after turning to the dark side.
The Expendables barely escape with Hale Caesar suffering
life threatening injuries. Not wanting to see anymore of his comrades dead,
Ross puts together an all-new team with of fresh faces. Meet Smilee (Kellan
Lutz), Mars (Victor Ortiz), Thorn (Glen Powell), and Luna (Ronda Rousey).
The Expendables has
largely traded on nostalgia. In particular, the sequel featured the novelty of
Jean-Claude Van Damme as a Euro-trash villain and the trifecta of Bruce Willis,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Stallone sharing the screen and mowing down wave
after wave of faceless henchmen. Sadly, Expendables
3 seems to have forgotten about the elements that make the whole endeavor
work. Yes, Stallone has added several notable names to the roster, but they aren't
expected stars like Steven Seagal or Jackie Chan. Wesley Snipes makes his
return to the screen and he's clearly enjoying the opportunity. There's a
meta-moment when Snipes jokes that he was serving time for tax evasion. He's
got great charisma as does Antonio Banderas as the loquacious Galgo, who is
overly eager to join up with the Expendables.
When Willis split over a disagreement in pay, Harrison Ford
stepped in as the new CIA handler Max Drummer. Ford is at crotchety level 11,
growling and snarling every piece of dialogue. However, he's still Harrison
Ford and the best one-liners they can come up with is, "That's gotta hurt." Chalk that up to a screenplay by
Stallone and the team of Creighton Rothenberger & Katrin Benedikt, who also
penned Olympus Has Fallen. Mel Gibson
finds himself in the same boat. He chews the scenery whenever he gets the chance
as the villain, who's not as cartoonish as Luther Voz in Machete Kills.
One nice surprise is Kelsey Grammer, an actor not exactly
known for action roles. But, it's been the summer of Frasier with Grammer also
appearing in X-Men: Days of Future Past
and Transformers: Age of Extinction. Grammer
plays Bonaparte, a facilitator that assists Ross in recruiting young blood.
Therein lays the primary problem with The Expendables 3. People came to see the big stars, not a bunch of
newbies. Expendables: The Next Generation barely has the chance to develop any
sort of personality other than one is a tech expert and one is a woman.
Speaking of which, UFC's Ronda Rousey is a welcome change for this overwhelming
sausage party, but she gives wooden line readings for the few bits of dialogue
she's given. Stick with punching dudes in the face. Kellan Lutz plays a
down-and-out soldier with an anti-authority issue, which never gets brought up
again. The whole idea of bringing them in makes no sense. Barney Ross doesn't
want his friends to die, but has no problem getting people he just met killed?
And the more time we spend with them, the less we do with actors that are
actually interesting.
After the slam-bang prologue, the movie lulls into a slumber
as it introduces the new characters and puts them into danger so the old guard
can come to their rescue. At over 2 hours long, the third installment is the
lengthiest off the trilogy and there was just no need for those additional
twenty minutes. The movie doesn’t pick up until the third act when Expendables
of all ages join forces to battle Stonebanks and the entire army of a fictional
Slavic country. Since this is PG-13, limbs aren't chopped off and human bodies
aren't blown to bits. Just because Expendables
3 isn't R-rated, doesn't meant the body count has lessened. Hundreds of
soldiers are gunned down, blown up by grenades, or impaled by throwing knives.
Almost everyone gets their own moment to shine, from Rousey using MMA moves to
snap limbs to Lutz pulling a Steve McQueen by jumping a motorcycle. Ford busts
out his piloting skills by flying a chopper into the combat zone with Arnold
and Jet Li riding shotgun. By the way, Jet Li pops up for about five minutes
and all he does is fire a machine gun, despite being one of the greatest
martial arts stars in movie history. And while Arnold doesn't bust out another "I'll be back," he does
reprise his famous line from Predator,
"Get to da choppa!"
Stallone and Schwarzenegger share a quiet scene in which the
two contemplate retiring from the gun-for-hire business. You could also take it
as commentary on their acting careers. Neither man has lit up the box office
the way they did back in the 80's. They aren't slow down either with Stallone
set for Rambo V and Arnold working on
Terminator: Genesys and Legend of Conan. They might not be
ready to hang up their combat boots, but maybe it's time to put The Expendables out to pasture if this
is the best they can do.
Rating: * ½ (*****)
