The Expendables

** - A bloated and largely incoherent Sylvester Stallone stars along with an all-star action film cast in this 2010 attempt to create a sort of ‘perfect action movie.’ I am assuming that was the intention, and if it truly was, then I’d have to say it failed miserably for a number of reasons. Firstly, I have to debate the quality of the cast here. The youngest of the stars featured is the nearly 40-year old Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke are tossed in for some reason, and there are at least a few ex-wrestlers in there somewhere, including ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin (who is thankfully burned to death toward the end). Add to that bizarre and very out of place cameos from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis and a supporting role for Eric Roberts, and I highly doubt anyone would get too excited by the overall cast. Whether or not one agrees with me on that aspect, it is almost certain that the lack of character background, random introduction of plot points, and the meandering and unfocused story is likely to turn off even the most ardent of action fans. The action sequences – especially those featuring Stallone and the badly aging Jet Li – aren’t even very entertaining. There are loads of explosions and gunfire and extremely graphic shots of bodies being blown to pieces and being cruelly slaughtered, though, if you like that sort of thing.