The Expendables 2 was the only one of the four Expendables movies that actually accomplished what Sylvester Stallone set out to do with the all-star action franchise. For years, Stallone was best known for headlining two major franchises: the Rocky franchise, about an underdog boxer becoming a world champion, and the Rambo franchise, about a Vietnam War veteran reckoning with the fact that the only thing he knows how to do is kill. But in 2010, Stallone added a third franchise to the roster: The Expendables, about a band of aging mercenaries secretly making the world a better place.
Although it was conceived by screenwriter David Callaham, once Stallone took over the project, The Expendables became an excuse to get every big action movie star on the same marquee. Stallone is backed up by Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, and Mickey Rourke, and Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis make a memorable cameo appearance alongside their Planet Hollywood co-founder. The Expendables set out to poke fun at the bombast of ‘80s action movies while still recapturing their cheesy magic, but only one entry in the franchise pulled that off.
Expendables 2 Made Fun Of Itself While Still Being A Good Movie
Expendables 2 Is Both A Self-Parody & A Genuinely Good Action Movie
Released in 2012, The Expendables 2 is the best entry in the franchise by far. It works brilliantly as a silly self-parody — the villain is literally called Vilain — but it’s a genuinely good action movie, too. Simon West took over the director’s chair from Stallone and brought all the explosive spectacle and self-aware humor of his classic debut feature Con Air to the proceedings. The plot and dialogue are nothing to write home about, but the movie has more than enough thrilling action sequences and tongue-in-cheek comedic moments to make up for it.
Simon West took over the director’s chair from Stallone and brought all the explosive spectacle and self-aware humor of his classic debut feature Con Air to the proceedings.
The Expendables 2 utilizes its amazing cast more than the first one. Schwarzenegger and Willis both get a much bigger role in the sequel, and Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme both bring a bit more star power to the ensemble. It’s a really fun movie full of goofy one-liners and delightfully absurd action, but it still takes the time to flesh out its James Bondian premise of an eccentric rival mercenary threatening the world with a deadly weapon. It’s the best Expendables movie, and it’s not even close.
Expendables 2 Improved Upon Everything Expendables Tried To Do
The First Expendables Took Itself A Bit Too Seriously
The Expendables 2 was a huge improvement on what the first Expendables movie had set out to do. The first film took itself a bit too seriously, playing its story of aging mercenaries taking down a ruthless dictator completely straight, and it just wasn’t that good of a movie. The self-aware humor of The Expendables 2 works so well because the story would be unintentionally hilarious without it. By taking its ridiculous plot seriously, the original Expendables film invited unintended laughs. The Expendables 2 embraced that absurdity rather than trying to pretend it wasn’t there.
Part of that can be blamed on the fact that The Expendables didn’t technically originate as an Expendables movie. Callaham’s script was initially developed independently of Stallone. When he had the idea for the Expendables franchise, Stallone used Callaham’s existing script as a jumping-off point, so it was somewhat beholden to the tone and narrative established by Callaham. With The Expendables 2, Stallone developed the script from scratch as an Expendables movie in line with his original vision of a star-studded, self-aware throwback to the ‘80s action classics that put him on the A-list.
Expendables 3 & 4 Completely Lost Track Of What Made The Franchise Interesting
They Were Just B-Movies, Not A Love Letter To B-Movies
The subsequent Expendables movies failed to recapture the perfect tonal balance of The Expendables 2. The action wasn’t as riveting and the humor didn’t land as effectively. Whereas The Expendables 2 is an affectionate spoof of old-school action cinema, the later sequels are just tired examples of it. 2014’s The Expendables 3 and 2023’s box office flop Expend4bles were just B-movies, not a knowing love letter to B-movies. The Expendables 3 adds some great new action stars to the ensemble — Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford — but it’s completely lacking in its predecessor’s sense of fun.
Expend4bles gets off on the wrong foot altogether when it becomes clear that Stallone’s role is a glorified cameo. From there, it doesn’t even have the fun of watching ‘80s action stars back in action again, which is all this franchise really had to begin with. Lundgren is still in the picture, but the rest of the cast is rounded out with non-action stars like Megan Fox and 50 Cent. The story of the Expendables preventing World War III is a great premise for this series, but Expend4bles is sorely missing The Expendables 2’s star power and tongue-in-cheek humor.