Sylvester Stallone: You've done it again.
The Expendables 2 is everything I wanted it to be and more. The first one already did a great job of capturing the spirit of 80's action movies and the second one improves on the first in every possible way. The second installment has a more engaging story, a great sense of humor, and self-parody that the first one lacked, and of course, big, bloody, loud, awesome action set pieces. Stallone went out and improved the already stellar cast of action new stars new and old by adding classic action stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris (who very well might steal the show) to the fold. He also gave Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger bigger roles which was a great choice. Willis kills his role as smart-ass FBI agent Mr.Church and watching Schwarzenegger back on the big screen firing big guns was pretty much an instant time machine back to the 80's. Just like the first one, the last half-hour or so is one giant shootout and it's incredible. I didn't think they would be able to top the final showdown of the first one, but they easily did (save for the AA-12 hallway sequence with Terry Crews, which is still the best moment of either film).
The Expendables 2 also benefited from Stallone handing over the directing reigns to veteran action director Simon West. West has a better handle on how to shoot the action sequences and it was just a better made film overall than it's predecessor without sacrificing any of the things that made the first one great.
The Expendables 2 is one of the biggest, baddest, gleefully over-the top, and most entertaining action films to come out in the past decade. The amount of fun this film is truly infectious. It's clear they had a blast making it and you will probably have a blast watching it.
4.5/5 Stars
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