The Expendables 4 Review – Sylverster Stallone, Jason Statham, Megan Fox
Here’s my The Expendables 4 Review which is out now from MVP and Viva International Pictures. The stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Megan Fox, 50 Cent, Levy Tran, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais and Andy Garcia. The film was directed by Scott Waugh.
Ok first off, I enjoyed the film. Not as the sheer joy of the first “The Expendables” but its right around the same sphere but there were some reasons why I’m not super raving about this. Find out why in the next few paragraphs.
Expendables 4 has the most straight forward and predicatable story EVER. No way that was gonna happen for this franchise player and that’s as far as I can go with regards to that beat. The plot involves big time revenge, some sexual tension between Megan Fox’s Gina and Statham’s Lee Christmas, a botched mission, new members and some returning characters. There’s also an old mystery enemy that popped out of nowhere with which Stallone’s Barney Ross has major beef with. Then there’s a nuclear bomb, stolen nuclear detonators, possible armed conflict between the US and Russia and some amazing fights here and there.
Let’s face it, the Expendables didn’t have a strong point when it comes to drama or a tight script. The script is as tight as those pellets inside a shotgun. But damn those it continue to deliver good to god-tier action sequences. Have to admit though for this one, the CGI had a lot of downs more than ups. They spent the budget of these effects but it looked so crappy but don’t let that ruin your good time.
And because we’re already four movies in, we get carte blanch on the cast of characters we need. At any given movie they can call in those old characters that’s been introduced and even extend it a bit to new blood related to past characters as in the case of Jacob Scipio‘s Galen who is the son of Antonio Banderas’ Galgo. Then there’s the franchise’s ability to draw in new characters albeit with a tinge of misogyny here and there as in the case of Megan Fox and Levy Tran’s characters getting this sexualized feel to it.
The action scenes are amazing as always and brutal and its nothing new for the franchise. The explosions are perfect and the setting for most of the fights are also set in an aircraft carrier giving us Metal Gear fans some massive Metal Gear Solid 2 feels. Like literally the climax was the “Tanker Incident” minus the stealth and more of the violence. Even the bad guy here is clearly named Ocelot which could just be a coincidence to the classic villain or a wink-wink to the fans paying close attention.
The ending was just OK because I was really hoping for bombastic final fight scene but they kinda copped out in the end which for me is a bad thing considering how they ended the first Expendables movie or that one where we got a Stallone vs Van Damme fight.
I did like that little bit of character development they gave Statham’s Christmas as we even get to see him beat up an influencer for treating people like shit. I actually cheered on that, and the fact the became viral after he beat the aforementioned fella while on a livestream. Thrusting him on the leader role for the film feels like wearing new boxers, it should be ok but it needs some getting used to. And I totally understand why we need this to happen too as Stallone’s getting really old to do intense action scenes and it could hurt the film if the main hero doesn’t do action. That’s a crime.
Asians also got represented here as not only do we get Tony Jaa (who was the main reason I watched the live-action Monster Hunter movie) team up with the good guys while The Raid’s Iko Uwais gets to demonstrate how he’s an effective physical baddie. And those tonfa batons are pretty nasty. It’s just nice to them these two action stars either team up with Hollywood action heroes or have a few minutes of screen time beating each other up. My biggest gripe however is that Uwais didn’t get enough fighting segments with Statham. A prolonged fight scene could have balanced out the lackadaisical final moments of the film.
Verdict
7/10
The Expendables 4 or Expend4bles was a fun action movie. Obviously suspension of belief and some heads up that it’s got ugly CG here and there and you are well on your way to having a good time. If you don’t like some big changes to the film, there will be moments like that but don’t worry, by the end the status quo reverts back to normal for now. I liked the cast so far with top tier given to Uwais and Jaa. It also helps that they actually decided to give some “leadership” bits to Megan Fox who worked well with what she had other than being sexy and doing somewhat naughty things onscreen. Bottom line, its fun but just lower your expectations a bit, its a popcorn movie after all.
