The Expendables 3 completes Sylvester Stallone's latest self made franchise. The first film, while gloriously violent, had a surprisingly small amount of action and tricked us into thinking that Bruce and Arnold had more to do in the film than they actually did. However, The Expendables 2 fixed those problems immediately by opening with an action sequence that outdid everything in the entire first movie. The amount of action was probably about the same as the first, but what was there was much better, and then add the fact that we got the three action icons standing side by side shooting machine guns. So, you know, cool. Also, the sense of camaraderie was much more present than it was in the first film, which is surprising given the fact that these are team films. In other words, part 2 was FUN, and what it lacked in Mickey Rourke monologues and extreme violence, it made up with JCVD playing a villain named Vilain and Chuck Norris making Chuck Norris jokes.
Which brings us to The Expendables 3. Thankfully, part 3 keeps the sense of fun from its immediate predecessor while also adding much more action than any previous entry. Actually, part 3 is the most cohesive and coherent of the three, which was a nice surprise. The story is simple, the set pieces are plentiful and pretty easy to follow, and Mel Gibson is in it as the main bad guy. So yea, I had fun with this flick.
But of course, like with most films with this many stars in it, it suffers from having too many people not having much to do. This time out, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture and once again Jet Li get the worst of it. Dolph had a lot to do in the second one, which makes his absence here all the more disappointing. Also, no Bruce this time around. He had a very public falling out with Sly and the filmmakers, so of course there are numerous jokes regarding his absence which are funny enough, but its still a shame because he was one of the few who really understood how silly these movies are and his replacement, Harrison Ford, just doesn't have the screen presence he once did.
Among new additions to the crew are Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson and a bunch of other young actors, boxers and MMA fighters that I don't know or care about. Snipes acquits himself well enough, though again, he doesn't have much to do. Still, it's good to see him on the big screen again. Banderas actually steals quite a bit of the movie, adding an actual sense of humor to the proceedings that isn't groan inducing or winks to the past that compiles most of the humor in these movies. I was truly reminded how good he can be, and with his awesome sentient robot movie Automata on the way, hopefully a Banderas resurgence isn't far off.
Gibson though. Gibson. I love Gibson. Every movie can benefit from more Gibson. Please, let Gibson be in more movies! His part is pretty minimal here, but he makes every second count, bringing his trademark intensity and humor to the role. He even gets a juicy monologue that rivals Rourke's from the first film. Sadly, the climatic showdown between him and Sly isn't as satisfying as it should have been. Too short and not as brutal, especially compared to his showdown with JCVD in the second one. Either way, Gibson is great in the flick, and I would really like to see more Gibson in the future.
I had wanted this review to be a little more in depth and professional, but the truth is this film isn't either of those things itself, but I will say that I had a good time watching it, and if it is indeed the last one in the series, at least it ends on a high note*.
*Sort of. After two weeks, the film is already on track to be the lowest grossing entry by a longshot, effectively guaranteeing that this is the last film. Hopefully Sly will bounce back again with Rambo V. Seriously.
