The Expendables 3 (2014)
Certified: 12A
Duration: 126 minutes
Directed by: Patrick Hughes
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Antonio Banderas, Jet Li, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Kelsey Grammer, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger
KRS Releasing Ltd

The Expendables’ all-star action parade continues as Sylvester Stallone’s third picture in the series makes it to theatres amid controversy and lawsuits with piracy websites.

Fans of the previous two movies will enjoy this action romp which stars a who’s who of the action genre from the last three decades. A further sequel is already rumoured to be in the works with the internet grapevine citing plans to add Pierce Brosnan and Hulk Hogan into the mix.

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and friends Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren) are mercenaries called The Expendables. They save one of their own, Doc (Wesley Snipes), from a train aimed at taking him to prison. After this, they get neck deep in trouble as they go to Mogadishu along with Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) on a mission for the CIA to capture ‘someone’.

To their surprise, there they discover that this ‘someone’ is none other than Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), an international arms dealer who had once been one of their founding members. They had all thought that Conrad had died at Barney’s hands.

He manages to escape once again injuring Caesar severely in the process. CIA Field Operations Max Drummer (Harrison Ford) becomes involved and Barney realises that he and his crew may be getting old, that he is losing to many squad mates and so he fires all his crew.

This film is a veritable retread of the first two instalments, with more new faces and the action stakes upped even further

After that, he goes out to hire a new and younger crew. He does this with the help of mercenary recruiter Bonaparte (Kelsey Grammer). Galgo (Antonio Banderas), an assassin that is a bit on the zealous side, is not brought in but the team is soon formed: there is tough-as-nails Mars (Victor Ortiz), martial arts specialist Luna (Ronda Rousey), ex-Navy SEAL John Smilee (Kellan Lutz) and cyber hacker Thorn (Glen Powell).

Barney is once again in trouble and he needs the help not just of his ex-team but also of Yin Yang (Jet Li), who already had a past with The Expendables, and Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who had once been a major rival.

This film is a veritable retread of the first two instalments, with more new faces and the action stakes upped further. But despite the many new and younger faces, it is the older stars who are the true heroes here. They are the ones who give this film its swagger and they pull off their roles with a panache that modern action heroes cannot hope to match.

In what is a send-off of Wesley Snipe’s real-time prison sentence, this actor stands out among the cast. He had already starred with Stallone in Demolition Man and one can sense a real bond between them. Banderas carries off his role with a wink in his eye, while Ford seems to be in it for a hoot. Meanwhile, Gibson makes for a very strong villain and he should be cast more in such roles as he brings the right amount of lunacy into the proceedings.

Delivered with more than enough tongue-in-cheek and 1980s style of action, The Expendables 3 is a big pat on the back by Stallone and co. as they deliver the right quips, stares and poses.

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