Movie Review: The Expendables 2 (2012)

The Expendables 2 does what a sequel should; shoots up with what worked before, and curtails its more distracting vices. There was way too much plot, and way too much pathos, in The Expendables. For the most part, that's pretty much gone here. Our titular gang of mercs are out and about, doing what they do best, when a job is botched and one of their brightest, and youngest, recruits is murdered by a gang of thieves lead by the scenery-chomping Jean-Claude Van Damme. It's a simple revenge plot, and it works, because it's simple and because it always has. After the pre-credits shootout there's a middle portion that gets a bit too dialogue-y, veering off into corny, poorly-acted sentiment, but soon enough the explosions return and they never really stop. Expendables 2 knows its core audience far better than it did before, and its brand of nostalgia is acutely knowledgeable of the expectations it needs to meet. Everyone, all those bolded text, above-the-title actors, does what they can to really ham it up. Smartly, each player gets time to do what he (and even she!, that being relative newcomer Nan Yu) does best; Stallone gets to throw those left hooks like Rocky Balboa, Statham headbutts some poor fools and throws knives, Jet Li finds the time to get down with some well-choreographed martial arts before disappearing from the film early on, and the inimitable Arnold Schwarzenegger gets to say idiotic things and fire comically big guns. It's like an 80s/90s action movie all-you-can-eat buffet; mix and match what you like from what's advertised, and you're likely to be satisfied with your meal.